A.  M.  D.  G. 


The  Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


Leo  H.  Mullany,  S.  J. 


LOYOLA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

1915 


Ifmprtmt  potest 

A.  J.  Burrowes,  S.J. 

Provincialis 


IFUbil  ©bstat 

John  B.  Furay,  S.  J. 

Censor  Deputatus 


Imprimatur 

M.  J.  Fitzsimmons 

Administrator 


COPYRIGHT  1915  BY 
LOYOLA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


CHICAGO 


To  My  Mother 


FOREWORD 


There  is  nothing  very  scientific,  about  this  sketch. 
It  is  not  a  biography,  but  the  simple  story  of  how  one 
man  inaugurated  a  great  movement.  With  the  birth 
of  that  movement  the  story  is  told.  Even  in  the  period 
considered,  many  events  and  details  interesting  in 
themselves  and  necessary  for  any  adequate  knowledge 
of  the  character  of  Saint  Ignatius,  are  left  untouched 
as  being  not  altogether  pertinent  to  the  object  in  view — 
the  awakening  in  the  hearts  of  American  boys  and 
girls  and  young  men  and  young  women  a  consciousness 
of  the  supreme  importance  of  plain  dealing  with  God. 


The  Author. 


THE  DREAM  OF  THE  SOLDIER-SAINT 


I 

The  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  is  one  which 
historians  date  from  and  imaginative  schoolboys  linger 
over.  The  union  of  the  crowns  of  Castile  and  Arragon 
had  resulted  in  a  monarchy  which,  for  the  strength  of 
its  organization  and  the  splendor  of  its  court,  chal¬ 
lenged  comparison  with  any  power  in  European  history. 
Then  were  eight  hundred  years  of  war  brought  to  a 
triumphant  issue  in  the  Conquest  of  Granada,  and  the 
Moorish  race  was  expelled  from  Spain  forever.  And 
in  the  first  flush  of  this  victory  Isabella  took  the  step 
that  was  to  give  another  world  to  men. 

When  we  first  read  the  story  of  Columbus,  we 
blessed  that  splendid  Oueen  for  the  fine  burst  of 
generosity,  not  unmingled  with  recklessness,  with  which 
she  espoused  the  cause  of  a  man  whom  all  the  world 
called  a  fool.  Yet  the  impulse  was  in  keeping  with  her 
day.  The  air  was  electric  with  high  enthusiasm, 
charged  with  the  spirit  of  adventure.  It  was  the  day 
of  great  dreams  and  great  deeds. 

How  well  Columbus  fits  into  the  setting  of  this 
period  !  A  dreamer  and  a  globe-trotter  indeed,  with 
his  strong  faith  and  aggressive  spirit,  he  seems  made 
for  that  land  of  romance,  of  conquest,  of  devotion — 
heroic  Spain.  From  boyhood  he  had  cherished  a  dream. 
It  had  grown  with  his  growth  and  become  rooted  in 
his  soul.  Through  ridicule,  want,  disappointment,  and 
treachery,  he  had  clung  to  it,  suffered  for  it,  fought  for 
it,  until,  by  favor  of  one  of  the  very  greatest  women 
that  ever  graced  a  European  throne,  he  brought  it  to 


6 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


full  fruition  and  laid  a  new  continent  at  the  feet  of 
the  world  that  had  laughed  at  him. 

The  men  who  have  done  great  things  in  the  world 
have  dreamed  them  first,  and  dreaming  is  not  a  bad 
occupation  if  rightly  directed.  Anybody  can  dream. 
Some  people  do  nothing  else,  and  the  world  justly 
condemns  them.  But  it  takes  a  man  to  conceive  a 
great  and  noble  object  and  follow  up  that  object  to 
realization  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  Most  young  men 
dream  of  great  things  they  are  going  to  do  before  they 
die ;  but  as  time  goes  on  the  mills  of  the  world  grind 
their  dreams  to  powder,  and  in  their  old  age  they  look 
back  with  regret  on  what  they  might  have  done.  Hence 
it  is  very  important  for  us  to  learn  early  in  life  that 
God  has  great  work  for  us  to  do  and  that  He  wants  us 
to  take  it  seriously.  Find  your  work,  build  your  dream 
around  it,  and  you  are  in  a  fair  way  to  become  a  man 
apart  in  a  world  of  mediocrity. 

Our  story  has  to  do  with  another  dreamer  of  this 
same  golden  age.  It  is  the  story  of  a  man  who,  like 
Columbus,  conceived  a  great  project,  dared  as  much 
for  it,  and  suffered  as  long  and  as  painfully  before  he 
realized  its  promise.  The  exact  date  of  his  birth  is  not 
known,  but  it  was  some  time  in  1491,  the  year  before 
Columbus  set  out  across  the  unknown  sea.  He  was 
born  in  the  old  castle  of  Loyola,  which  stood  on  the 
southern  slopes  of  the  Pyrenees  in  the  Basque  province 
of  Guipuscoa,  a  part  of  Isabella’s  own  Castile.  In 
baptism  he  was  called  Enico  or  Inigo,  but  to  us  he  is 
known  as  Saint  Ignatius  of  Loyola. 

The  mountains  he  looked  upon  in  his  babyhood  were 
noted  for  their  iron  ore,  which  the  sword-makers  of 
Toledo  hammered  into  their  famous  blades.  And  the 
inhabitants  of  that  neighborhood  seem  to  have  taken 
something  of  their  character  from  those  rugged  peaks. 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


7 


They  too  had  iron  in  their  veins.  To  this  day  the 
Basques  are  a  remarkably  high-spirited,  full-blooded 
race ;  and  they  have  had  no  mean  part  in  the  making 
of  history  on  the  Spanish  Peninsula.  Their  situation 
made  them  a  people  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  their 
passionate  disposition  caused  continual  trouble  to  the 
powers  that  alternately  ruled  over  them.  At  this  time 
of  grace,  however,  they  were  well  kept  in  hand  by 
the  wisdom  of  their  beloved  Regent. 

Little  is  known  of  Ignatius’s  early  years.  His 
mother,  a  very  devout  woman,  died  while  he  was  still 
a  child ;  and  he  grew  up  and  received  his  earlier 
Christian  education  at  the  home  of  his  aunt,  Doha 
Maria  de  Guebara.  From  here,  as  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough,  he  entered  the  court  of  King  Ferdinand  as 
a  page. 

Of  his  life  from  his  entrance  into  the  royal  palace 
until  his  twenty-seventh  year,  we  have  only  a  few 
details.  We  know  that  he  became  very  devoted  to 
books  of  chivalry  and  romance;  and  that  he  wrote 
verses,  many  of  them  on  religious  topics,  others  dedi¬ 
cated  to  a  lady  high  in  court,  whom  he  had  chosen 
according  to  the  chivalrous  custom  of  the  time  as  the 
object  of  his  knightly  devotion.  We  know  too  that 
he  was  much  opposed  to  the  vice  of  gambling,  then  a 
very  popular  form  of  amusement  among  the  nobles 
of  Spain. 

The  Spanish  court  was  at  that  time  approaching  its 
meridian  glory.  Wealth  flowed  in  from  new  dominions ; 
genius  was  appreciated ;  beauty  was  admired ;  high 
achievement  was  applauded.  The  afterglow  of  departed 
chivalry  still  warmed  Spanish  hearts.  Good  cheer  ran 
high,  and  wealth  made  brave  display.  And  there  were, 
we  may  be  certain,  many  of  the  evils  attendant  on  pomp 
and  pride. 


8 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


There  is  no  doubt  that  Ignatius  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  his  surroundings;  in  later  life  he  always 
referred  to  this  period  as  a  time  utterly  given  over  to 
vanities.  It  is  not  surprising  that,  from  the  heights  of 
sanctity  which  he  afterwards  reached,  all  this  must 
have  seemed  to  him  the  merest  trifling  of  the  precious 
time  God  had  put  at  his  disposal.  The  splendor  of 
royal  entertainment  and  the  company  of  knights  and 
ladies  had  charms  for  him,  and  we  cannot  doubt  that 
he  took  a  keen  pleasure  in  them.  How  far  the  gayety 
of  his  environment  led  him,  we  cannot  be  sure.  Yet  if 
we  had  nothing  to  go  by  but  his  record  as  a  brave, 
God-fearing  soldier  of  Spain,  we  could  say  unhesi¬ 
tatingly  that  he  never  allowed  the  desire  for  pleasure 
to  get  complete  possession  of  his  heart. 

Royal  palaces  may  not  appeal  to  us  as  places  at  all 
likely  to  promote  saintliness.  Yet  it  is  certain  that 
God  allows  many  of  His  chosen  souls  to  dip  into  the 
tide  of  worldliness  only  to  claim  them  the  more  surely 
for  His  own  when  they  have  learned  the  limits  of 
human  enjoyment  and  its  inadequate  compensations. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  the  stuff  of  sanctity  concealed 
in  young  hearts  that  show  to  the  world  nothing  but 
giddiness.  Boys  and  girls  who  love  pleasure  and  seem 
to  think  of  nothing  but  the  gewgaws  of  the  moment 
may  have,  at  the  same  time,  depths  of  seriousness 
within  them  not  suspected  by  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  only  at  rare  moments  known  to  themselves.  These 
are  much  more  likely,  when  grace  flashes  the  great 
truths  into  their  souls,  to  turn  to  God  and  be  true  to 
Him  than  those  pitiably  comfortable  people  who  take 
their  pleasures  as  they  come  and  merely  as  a  matter 
of  course. 

But  Ignatius  was  not  a  mere  pleasure-seeker.  The 
favor  of  grandees  and  ladies  had  power  to  attract,  but 
not  to  hold  him.  All  this  time  he  was  dreaming — 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


9 


dreaming  of  winning  credit  for  himself  in  a  career 
which  was  then  the  recognized  test  of  a  man.  He  had 
resolved  to  be  a  great  soldier.  The  world  should  honor 
him  for  his  deeds,  not  merely  for  his  rank.  Let  men 
of  lower  spirit  stay  where  applause  was  cheap  and 
flattery  the  current  coin,  their  whole  study  to  grace 
gay  company  with  their  wit  or  show  to  advantage  in 
ball-room  and  banquet-hall.  He  would  be  no  carpet- 
knight.  Better  for  him  the  stubborn  field,  with  its 
stern  code  of  conduct,  its  hard-bought  honors,  its  flags 
to  defend,  and  its  trophies  to  be  won. 

The  American  of  to-day  can  appreciate  this  spirit. 
Here  and  now  it  is  not  a  man’s  ancestry  that  matters, 
but  his  own  record  in  the  world  of  achievement.  Great 
ancestry  covers  no  shortcomings ;  the  glory  of  the 
father  is  not  inherited  by  the  son.  Ignatius,  then,  with 
a  spirit  which  we  can  understand  and  admire,  was  not 
content  with  what  his  birth  had  given  him.  His 
attractive  and  engaging  personality  made  him  a  good 
representative  of  the  ancient  house  of  Loyola.  He 
was  rather  short,  but  strong  and  well-proportioned, 
with  the  olive  complexion  characteristic  of  his  race  and 
features  which  revealed  instantly  every  change  of 
feeling.  He  was,  moreover,  a  pleasant-spoken  com¬ 
panionable  man,  well  schooled  in  the  manners  of  the 
court.  But,  though  not  indifferent  to  his  own  natural 
advantages,  he  was  not  satisfied  with  their  mere  posses¬ 
sion.  He  applied  himself  with  all  his  energy  to  the 
study  of  military  tactics  and  the  practice  of  arms,  in 
order  to  win  for  himself  on  his  own  merits  a  name 
and  a  position.  The  dream  was  good ;  and,  as  he  made 
it  the  driving  motive  of  his  life,  he  was  really  disposing 
his  soul  for  a  very  different  warfare.  Little  did  he 
know  the  character  of  the  war  he  was  to  wage  or  the 
glory  it  was  to  bring  him,  not  only  on  the  tongues  of 
men,  but  in  the  eternal  Courts  of  God. 


II 


It  was  not  until  1517  that  Ignatius  began  his  active 
career  in  the  field.  On  the  death  of  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  Navarre  had  become  the  object  of  bitter 
contention  between  France  and  Spain.  John  III,  its 
rightful  sovereign,  had  been  dispossessed  by  Ferdi¬ 
nand;  and  now,  with  the  aid  of  France,  he  sought  to 
reinstate  himself.  The  inhabitants  themselves  disliked 
the  Spanish  rule,  and  when  the  French  armies  poured 
across  the  Pyrenees,  many  of  the  stronger  towns 
revolted. 

For  four  years  Ignatius  fought  for  the  Spanish  cause. 
Most  of  this  time  he  probably  held  a  subordinate  posi¬ 
tion.  He  commanded,  however,  a  successful  attack 
on  the  Castilian  town  of  Najara  and  gained  recognition, 
not  only  by  his  personal  bravery,  but  by  his  lofty 
refusal  to  take  any  part  of  the  spoils.  He  was  working 
out  his  dream,  this  high-spirited  Spaniard,  and  personal 
aggrandizement  had  no  part  in  it. 

But  it  was  only  at  the  end  of  the  campaign  that  he 
showed  the  courage  that  gives  him  a  place  among 
military  heroes.  One  position  after  another  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  French.  The  Spaniards,  hard- 
pressed  on  every  side,  decided  to  make  their  last  stand 
at  Pamplona,  the  recognized  key  to  this  territory  since 
the  day  of  Charlemagne.  It  had,  however,  only  a  few 
defenders;  its  fortifications  were  unfinished,  and  its 
supplies  inadequate.  Moreover,  the  inhabitants  were 
friendly  to  the  French,  and  they  felt  that,  in  any  event, 
Spain  could  not  possibly  regain  her  lost  fortunes  in 
this  territory. 

Naturally  enough  then,  when  the  moment  for  action 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


11 


came,  the  magistrates  of  the  town  gave  up  all  thought 
of  resistance.  There  was  almost  no  chance  of  success, 
and  surrender  without  a  struggle  would  secure  them 
better  terms.  Ignatius,  now  an  artillery-captain,  vio¬ 
lently  opposed  this  policy  and  urged  them  to  change 
their  plans.  Though  they  may  have  laughed  at  him 
for  his  counsel,  they  must  have  admired  his  courage. 
Whether  he  really  compared  their  position  to  that  of 
Aeneas  at  Troy,  we  cannot  be  sure.  But  the  speech 
attributed  to  him  is  certainly  in  accordance  with  his 
spirit : 

“I  see  nothing  to  admire  in  Aeneas  when  I  think  of 
his  escaping  from  the  flames  that  consumed  his  city. 
Me  should  have  merited  my  best  praise  had  he  died  a 
holocaust  of  his  fidelity.  To  shun  the  common  peril  is 
the  coward’s  part ;  to  perish  in  the  universal  ruin  is 
the  mischance  of  brave  men.” 

But  his  efforts  were  wasted;  less  valiant,  though 
perhaps  more  prudent  opinion  prevailed,  and  the  town 
threw  open  its  gates  to  the  invaders.  Burning  with 
the  shame  of  it,  Ignatius  went  straight  to  the  com¬ 
mandant  of  the  citadel  and  finally  induced  him  to  make 
at  least  some  show  of  resistance.  This  advantage, 
gained  over  the  opposition  of  all  the  other  officers, 
was  nearly  lost  when  a  parley  was  called  at  the  quarters 
of  the  French  general.  With  the  confidence  of  victors 
the  French  offered  severe  terms,  and  the  commandant 
began  to  waver  in  his  purpose  of  resistance.  Two 
other  officers  present  were  altogether  in  favor  of 
accepting  the  proffered  conditions.  Ignatius  alone 
stood  out  against  all  overtures.  Let  the  French  take 
the  citadel  if  they  could  by  force  of  arms.  He  would 
have  none  of  their  terms.  They  little  knew  the  mettle 
of  Spanish  men  if  they  thought  to  get  that  stronghold 
so  cheaply.  He  spoke  his  mind  with  such  vehemence 
that  the  French  commander  angrily  dismissed  the 


12 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


assembly.  Whatever  the  other  Spaniards  thought, 
there  was  nothing  for  it  now  but  a  fight.  This  young 
firebrand  had  committed  himself  and  them,  and  they 
could  not  escape  the  heroic  course  thrust  upon  them. 
Back  they  went  to  the  citadel,  and  the  French  prepared 
to  attack  at  once. 

Any  one  can  dream,  as  we  have  said ;  and  in  the  same 
way  any  one  can  fight  when  everything  is  in  his  favor. 
But  all  the  world  applauds  the  leader  of  a  forlorn 
hope.  And  this  was  the  position  of  Ignatius  at  Pam¬ 
plona.  Under  the  circumstances,  no  disgrace  would 
have  attached  to  a  surrender;  but  men  of  his  caliber 
are  not  satisfied  to  come  off  without  disgrace.  Death 
might  come ;  but  that  was  “the  mischance  of  brave 
men.”  And  he  prepared  for  it.  No  priest  was  at  hand, 
so  he  made  his  confession  to  a  fellow-soldier.  This 
act  of  humiliation,  though  it  had  of  course  no  sacra¬ 
mental  value,  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  in  those 
days  of  simple  faith.  Its  motive  was  the  fear  of  God, 
and  the  good  will  which  prompted  it  must  have  received 
its  reward  in  true  peace  of  soul. 

The  French  opened  their  attack  by  training  their 
artillery  against  the  weakest  part  of  the  outer  wall.  To 
return  the  fire  effectively,  Ignatius  saw  at  once  that  his 
men  must  be  directed  by  some  one  stationed  above. 
The  top  of  that  wall  was  the  place  for  the  artillery- 
captain.  Here  was  work  after  his  own  heart.  Risk 
there  was,  but  opportunity  also  to  realize  his  dream. 
Bully  appreciating  the  danger,  no  doubt,  yet  indifferent 
to  anything  but  his  martial  honor  and  the  cause  at 
stake,  he  mounted  to  the  top  of  the  half-built  wall. 
There  where  the  whole  attack  was  concentrated  he 
stood  with  lifted  sword,  the  ruling  spirit  of  that 
desperate  defense. 

But  not  for  long.  A  French  cannon-ball  struck  his 
leg,  and  there  ended  the  siege  of  Pamplona  and  the 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


13 


military  career  of  Ignatius.  He  fell,  and  Spain’s  last 
stronghold  in  Navarre  passed  into  the  hands  of  France. 

The  stand  he  had  taken  during  the  parley  and  the 
heroism  of  his  conduct  at  the  siege  had  won  for 
Ignatius  the  deep  respect  of  his  foes.  Seldom  was 
prisoner  of  w7ar  treated  with  greater  deference.  They 
carried  him  to  his  lodgings  in  the  town  and  provided 
physicians  to  dress  his  wounds.  The  shattered  bone 
was  set,  and  for  tw7o  wreeks  he  lay  in  intense  suffering. 
It  then  became  apparent  that  he  required  treatment 
which  was  unavailable  at  Pamplona.  The  French,  as 
one  last  mark  of  the  respect  in  which  they  held  him, 
conveyed  him  to  his  old  home,  the  castle  of  Loyola, 
now  occupied  by  his  brother,  Don  Martin  Garzia. 

Here  examination  showed  that  the  leg  had  been  badly 
set,  and  a  second  operation  wTas  performed.  This  con¬ 
sisted  in  breaking  the  bone  again  in  order  to  reset  it, 
surely  a  terrible  ordeal,  but  one  which  Ignatius  bore 
with  no  other  sign  of  pain  than  the  clenching  of  his 
hands.  An  attack  of  fever  followed  and  threatened 
to  prove  fatal ;  but  he  recovered  slowly,  and  the  wound 
healed. 

It  was  found,  howrever,  that  a  piece  of  the  bone  pro¬ 
truded  below7  the  knee,  and  he  w7as  told  that  this  would 
mean  a  permanent  deformity.  The  gallant  courtier 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  appearing  to  disadvantage 
in  the  halls  of  fashion.  Trunk-hose  were  the  prevailing 
style!  So  the  surgeons  were  called  upon  to  say 
what  could  be  done.  They  told  him  that  the  part 
which  protruded  could  be  sawed  off,  but  that  this 
would  cause  much  greater  pain  than  anything  he  had 
yet  endured.  The  soldier  told  them  to  go  ahead  w7ith 
the  work,  and  to  begin  at  once.  They  did  so;  and 
Ignatius,  refusing  to  be  strapped  down  as  the  custom 
was  in  such  cases,  bore  the  torture  of  this  rough  surgery 
without  movement  or  murmur.  The  deformity  was 


14 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


removed ;  but,  on  finding  that  the  leg  was  now  short¬ 
ened,  he  submitted  to  having  it  stretched  for  weeks  in 
order  to  do  away  with  this  hindrance  to  his  graceful¬ 
ness  of  carriage.  The  success  of  this  method,  if  any, 
was  not  complete;  for  he  walked  with  a  perceptible 
limp  the  rest  of  his  life. 

The  Saint  always  spoke  of  this  grilling  experience 
as  his  “martyrdom  of  vanity,”  and  all  his  life  he  made 
the  thought  of  it  an  added  incentive  to  endure  suffer¬ 
ings  for  Christ. 


Ill 


We  have  seen  enough  of  the  character  of  Ignatius 
to  understand  how  intolerable  must  have  been  the 
inactivity  now  forced  upon  him.  Manly  virtues  he 
possessed  in  high  degree,  but  there  was  something 
unsoftened  and  untamed  about  his  cavalier  spirit. 
Patience  he  had  not  learned.  The  battle  of  life  was 
sweet  to  him,  and  his  fiery  soul  chafed  at  the  very 
thought  of  lying  passive  through  the  long  weeks.  To 
banish  at  least  some  part  of  their  monotony,  he  called 
for  tales  of  romance  and  adventure  such  as  he  had  read 
with  bounding  heart  in  the  gay  days  at  court.  But  his 
old  home  was,  like  Shylock’s,  a  “sober  house.”  The 
only  reading-matter  it  could  provide  was  a  “Life  of 
Christ”  and  a  volume  containing  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints.  Any  diversion,  however,  was  welcome.  So 
he  took  up  the  distasteful  books  —  and  God’s  great 
designs  over  the  Spanish  cavalier  began  to  be  realized. 

Ignatius  was  a  man  with  an  active,  honest  mind  and 
a  strong  will.  He  did  not  read  passively.  Though  the 
old  romances  had  appealed  only  to  his  imagination,  he 
had  eagerly  responded  to  them.  With  boyish  enthusi¬ 
asm  he  had  pictured  himself  going  through  the  exploits 
of  the  heroic  characters  presented  to  him.  Thus  had 
his  dream  been  fashioned,  and  he  had  set  himself  with 
all  his  heart  to  work  it  out,  to  become  a  knight  worthy 
of  the  name.  Now,  perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  he  found  himself  reading  something  that  called 
for  serious  thinking.  And  again  he  responded ;  he 
thought,  lingered  over  the  thought,  and  applied  it  to 
himself.  The  imaginative  element  had  its  part,  but  his 
best  powers  of  reasoning  and  assimilation  were  also 
called  into  play. 


16 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


He  has  told  us  that  the  one  great  idea  forced  upon 
him  by  the  consideration  of  the  lives  of  the  saints  was : 
“These  men  have  made  heroic  sacrifices  for  God.  Why 
cannot  I  do  the  same  ?”  Perhaps  it  was  a  mere  specu¬ 
lation  at  first;  but  he  dwelt  on  the  thought,  turned  it 
over  in  his  mind,  pictured  himself  as  an  ascetic — then 
put  aside  the  whole  thing  and  returned  to  his  dream  of 
military  fame  and  royal  honor. 

Let  us  remark  right  here  that  Ignatius  was  not  sick 
of  the  world.  The  wrorld  had  not  used  him  badly,  and 
his  was  a  disposition  that  got  great  enjoyment  out  of 
life.  He  knew  what  misery  and  sin  were,  and  he  had 
learned  something  of  the  futility  and  emptiness  of 
human  effort.  But  he  was  not  world-wearied,  nor 
cynical,  nor  sore,  nor  sorry.  He  had  tasted  life,  and 
it  was  sweet  to  his  lips.  And  now  he  dwelt  on  the 
happiness  of  a  career  in  the  world — dwelt  for  hours, 
as  he  tells  us,  on  what  he  veould  do  to  win  favor  and 
notice.  Then  he  turned  to  consider  the  very  different 
future  held  out  to  him  as  an  ideal  in  the  lives  of  God’s 
chosen  friends,  a  future  of  oblivion  so  far  as  the  world 
was  concerned,  a  life  absolutely  cut  off  from  all  his  old 
associations,  and  one  where  there  would  be  no  eye  but 
God’s  to  see  his  deeds,  no  voice  to  praise  him  but  that 
of  his  own  conscience.  The  two  dreams  recurred  to 
him  day  by  day,  and  he  deliberately  weighed  one 
against  the  other.  The  battle  of  his  life  was  on ;  and 
only  God  knew  what  hung  in  the  balance. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  the  impulsive  in  his  char¬ 
acter,  but  this  was  no  affair  of  mere  emotion.  It  was 
a  business  proposition,  a  cool  calculation  as  to  which 
course  would  yield  the  better  returns.  Vocations 
generally  enter  the  soul,  we  may  say,  by  the  path  of 
least  resistance.  To  an  imaginative,  ardent  tempera¬ 
ment,  the  first  step  may  be  purely  an  emotional  one* 
God  takes  the  soul  as  it  is,  knowing  that  back  of  this 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


17 


first  impulse  there  is  a  fund  of  generosity  which  will 
make  that  soul  His  champion  forever.  Thus  the 
adventurous  soul  of  Ignatius  was  first  roused  by  the 
thought  of  rivaling  the  saints  in  their  lives  of  penance. 
But  lie  considered  both  sides  carefully  before  coming 
to  a  decision. 

One  constantly  recurring  phenomenon  made  a  deep 
impression  on  him.  He  noticed  that  though  the  dream 
of  worldly  glory  was  always  sweet  while  it  was  with 
him,  it  invariably  left  him  weary  and  heart-sick  at  the 
end.  On  the  other  hand,  the  contemplation  of  a  life 
according  to  the  example  of  the  saints  always  left  him 
calm  and  joyful.  And  this  difference  he  thought  upon 
until  he  had  caught  its  full  significance.  We  can  fancy 
him  asking  himself :  “Will  not  the  world,  no  matter 
how  much  I  get  out  of  it,  leave  this  same  weariness  of 
spirit  upon  me  in  my  old  age?  And  will  not  the  life  of 
higher  service,  hard  though  it  be  in  itself,  leave  me  at 
peace  forever?”  These  were  questions  worth  careful 
and  impartial  consideration. 

We  may  wonder  if  he  did  not  feel  at  times  that  all 
this  heroic  plan  was  simply  a  foolish  notion  wrought 
in  his  mind  by  the  weakened  condition  of  his  body. 
Perhaps  there  were  moments  when  he  felt  that  by  one 
act  of  his  will  he  could  put  this  whole  thing  out  of  his 
thoughts  forever.  He  could  certainly  have  ignored  the 
promptings  of  grace ;  and  whether  God  would  have 
repeated  the  call  we  do  not  know.  “He  stands  at  the 
door  and  knocks;”  but  He  has  all  respect  for  His 
creature’s  free-will,  and  if  His  first  distinct  summons 
be  ignored.  He  may  withdraw  some  of  His  graces  and 
leave  the  soul  more  to  its  own  poor  resources.  But 
Ignatius  was  honest  with  God.  He  faced  the  matter 
squarely;  he  deliberated  on  his  choice;  and  above  all 
he  prayed,  prayed  with  manly  faith  and  confidence  for 
the  light  to  see  and  the  will  tc  do. 


18 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


We  know  the  result.  God  loved  the  intrepid  soul 
that  had  fought  so  stoutly  at  Pamplona.  He  wanted 
such  a  soldier  for  His  own  great  army,  and  He  gave 
him  the  grace  to  decide  aright.  The  high  resolve  was 
taken.  Knowing  the  world  thoroughly  and  loving  it 
well,  Ignatius,  by  a  deliberate  and  final  choice,  deter¬ 
mined  to  forsake  it  forever  and  enlist  once  for  all  un¬ 
der  the  banner  of  Christ.  It  was  a  full  capitulation. 
There  was  to  be  no  divided  allegiance.  He  had  a  King 
worthy  of  his  devotion  at  last. 

Ignatius  had  made  his  choice;  he  was  now  God's 
champion :  but  he  had  not  yet  found  his  work.  He  had 
simply  put  himself  at  the  disposal  of  God,  and  from 
this  time  on  we  see  him  being  led  by  divine  grace  to 
the  great  work  he  was  to  accomplish.  He  was  not 
merely  passive. ,  He  made  his  plans,  as  we  shall  see ; 
but  always  on  condition  that  they  wrere  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  his  Master. 

In  making  his  first  submission,  he  had  had  no  direc¬ 
tion  but  that  of  his  own  honest  heart  reinforced  by  the 
breathings  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  His  was  no  ordinary 
vocation.  Yet  it  has  much  in  common  with  all  divine 
calls.  He  decided  it  alone — which  is  finally  the  only 
way  in  which  any  one  can  settle  this  great  question. 
It  is  a  transaction  between  the  soul  and  God,  in  which 
the  soul  freely  gives  itself  up.  No  one  can  be  driven 
into  it,  and  no  one  should  allow  himself  to  be  coaxed 
or  wheedled  into  it — or  away  from  it.  Confessors  and 
directors  may  examine  and  advise — in  ordinary  cases 
this  is  indispensible — but  the  final  “yes”  or  “no”  is 
entirely  in  one’s  own  hands.  For  this  decision  courage 
is  necessary.  And  the  most  courageous  as  well  as  the 
most  sensible  course  for  those  who  are  troubled  is  to 
go  to  a  confessor  who  knows  them,  speak  out  what  is 
in  their  hearts  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  and  abide 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


19 


by  his  advice.  He  cannot  decide  for  them,  but  he  can 
clear  the  way  for  their  decision. 

Ignatius  took  no  actual  steps  without  consulting 
God's  representatives,  and  at  their  word  he  dropped 
some  of  his  most  cherished  designs.  For  the  present 
he  only  knew,  and  that  for  certain,  that  he  was  to 
devote  himself  entirely  to  the  service  of  God.  How 
that  service  was  to  be  rendered,  he  waited  to  be  told. 
He  knew  that  the  question  of  a  life  of  consecration  was 
too  tremendously  important  to  be  decided  hastily,  and 
he  took  time  to  consider  it  fully.  But,  having  made 
his  decision,  he  never  revoked  it.  He  had  a  mind  of  his 
own,  and  when  the  temptation  came  to  go  back  to  his 
former  life,  he  despised  and  repudiated  it  as  a  sugges¬ 
tion  of  the  devil.  He  had  sought  the  truth,  and  having 
found  it,  he  used  it.  He  did  something  with  it.  Unlike 
that  pathetic  young  man  in  the  Gospel,  he  had  asked 
Christ  what  he  should  do  to  be  perfect,  with  his  mind 
already  made  up  to  do  as  he  was  told.  It  was  the 
military  virtue  of  obedience,  strengthened  by  the  grace 
of  God.  Christ  qualifies  all  His  calls  as  He  did  in 
speaking  to  that  young  man,  “If  thou  wilt.” 

“Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?”  cried  out 
Saint  Paul  as  he  lay  stricken  to  the  dust  on  the  road 
to  Damascus.  And  he  too  did  as  he  was  told.  In 
fact,  the  great  difference  between  the  saints  and  other 
people  is  that  they  do  as  well  as  they  possibly  can 
what  they  are  told  to  do  by  God.  There  is  no  faint¬ 
hearted.  compromising  “What  is  the  least  You  expect 
of  me?”  but  a  straightforward  “What  wilt  Thou  have 
me  to  do?” 

The  course  that  presented  itself  to  Ignatius  as  the 
obvious  one  was  to  atone  for  the  wasted  years  of  his 
youth  by  a  life  of  penance.  It  was  the  logical  result 
of  his  new  inspiration.  For  he  had  looked  well  into 
the  past  during  those  long  days  of  reflection  and  prayer. 


20 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


And  one  thing  became  very  clear  to  him:  that  his  life 
thus  far  had  been  a  very  unprofitable  one  so  far  as  the 
real  purposes  of  life  were  concerned.  The  thought 
made  him  indignant  with  himself,  and  he  resolved  on 
a  course  of  penitential  expiation.  Penance  is  the  first 
step  in  the  way  of  perfection.  Perhaps  that  is  why  the 
world  hates  its  very  name. 

I  fancy  that  to  many  people  the  most  distasteful  part 
of  the  life  of  a  saint  is  the  chapter  on  mortification. 
In  the  natural  order  men  realize  that  everything  has 
its  price  and  act  accordingly.  But  they  somehow  seem 
to  think  that  the  same  doesn’t  hold  when  the  prizes  to 
be  gained  are  really  worth  while.  They  will  wear  the 
most  uncomfortable  clothes  at  the  dictates  of  fashion 
and  put  themselves  to  a  thousand  inconveniences  in 
conformity  with  the  canons  of  propriety ;  yet  they  have 
nothing  but  contempt  for  the  men  and  women  who 
make  their  sacrifices  in  accordance  with  the  old-fash¬ 
ioned  idea  that  Pleaven  is  a  prize  worth  the  winning. 

Ignatius  was  resolved  to  prove  himself  sincere  in  his 
purpose  by  holding  a  course  directly  opposed  to  the 
one  he  had  before  pursued.  He  had  served  the  world 
before,  had  suffered  and  bled  for  it ;  he  would  suffer 
and  bleed  in  the  service  of  Christ.  He  would  make  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  return  and  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  a  Carthusian  monastery.  With 
the  light  so  far  given  him,  he  thought  this  would  be 
most  pleasing  to  God. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  God  had  very  different  work 
marked  out  for  him;  and  when  it  was  manifested  to 
him,  he  changed  his  plan  with  the  ready  obedience  of 
the  perfect  soldier.  He  was  serving  in  the  ranks,  not 
directing  the  campaign.  We  have  touched  on  this  trait 
in  his  character  before,  but  the  motive  which  inspired 
it  is  worth  more  than  passing  attention  if  we  are  to 
understand  Saint  Ignatius.  His  whole  desire  was  to 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


21 


be  a  perfect  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  he 
had  absolute  confidence  in  his  Leader.  To  do  God’s 
will  as  it  became  evident  was  the  informing  principle 
of  his  life,  and  it  led  him  to  the  heights  of  sanctity. 
Though  he  did  not  know  God’s  designs  with  regard  to 
him,  he  never  for  one  moment  wavered  or  faltered  or 
worried. 

There  are  a  great  many  people  in  the  world  who 
constantly  bother  their  heads  about  the  future  and,  at 
the  same  time,  are  neglecting  the  very  thing  that  would 
make  that  future  a  success.  To  do  God's  will  now ,  to 
keep  to  one’s  plain  duty  from  day  to  day,  is  the  very 
best  possible  preparation  for  the  future.  God  doesn’t 
ask  us  to  plan  our  life-work.  He  wants  us  to  wait  to 
be  told,  and  to  hold  ourselves  ready  to  do  what  we  are 
told  at  once  when  the  word  comes.  It  is  the  attitude 
of  the  soldier  and  the  dictate  of  common  sense.  If  I 
am  to  consecrate  myself  to  God,  He  will  let  me  know 
it  in  His  own  good  time.  Meanwhile  I  prepare  myself 
to  hear  Him  by  going  about  my  business,  by  earnest 
prayer,  and  by  faithful  correspondence  to  the  graces 
offered  me.  Thus  I  become  a  friend  of  God’s,  and 
God  will  not  allow  a  friend  of  His  to  make  a  mistake 
in  a  matter  so  important. 


IV 


At  last  there  came  a  day  in  the  spring  of  1522 
when  Ignatius  found  himself  sufficiently  recovered 
to  undertake  a  journey.  He  wanted  competent 
spiritual  direction  and,  with  this  in  mind,  prepared 
to  set  out  for  the  Benedictine  monastery  of  Mont¬ 
serrat.  He  had  taken  no  one  into  his  confidence, 
but  his  brother,  Don  Martin,  had  guessed  his  gen¬ 
eral  purpose.  Small  wonder,  in  view  of  so  pro¬ 
nounced  a  change  in  the  manner  of  the  cavalier ! 
Talk  of  camps  and  courts  fell  fiat  in  the  sick-room. 
Instead,  the  invalid  spoke  of  divine  things  with 
glowing  enthusiasm.  He  spent  long  hours  in  med¬ 
itation  and  at  night  was  often  found  gazing  up  at 
the  starry  sky,  overwhelmed  with  a  profound  sense 
of  the  insignificance  of  all  things  earthly  in  com¬ 
parison  with  the  things  of  God. 

Don  Martin  was  much  concerned ;  and  he  ap¬ 
proached  Ignatius  on  the  subject,  speaking  gently 
and  in  general  terms,  we  may  be  sure,  but  to  the 
purpose  all  the  same.  He  dwelt  on  the  glorious 
possibilities  of  a  career  in  the  field,  touched  on  the 
honor  Ignatius  had  already  won  for  himself,  and 
ended  with  a  fervent  appeal  to  his  transformed 
brother  not  to  do  anything  unworthy  of  his  station. 

The  solicitous  Don  Martin  probably  considered 
the  changed  behavior  of  Ignatius  a  natural  result 
of  his  hard  experience,  an  impulse  to  quit  a  world 
which  had  used  him  harshly.  Like  most  people  out¬ 
side  the  Church  and  some  within  it,  he  no  doubt 
held  the  opinion  that  seminaries  and  religious 
houses  were  recruited  mainly  from  two  classes : 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


23 


first,  those  who  know  nothing  of  the  world,  “who 
don’t  know  what  they  are  missing”;  and  secondly, 
those  who  have  known  the  world  too  well  and  have 
lost  their  capacity  for  enjoying  it. 

If  these  critics  could  only  become  acquainted  with 
the  real  character  of  those  who  enter  on  the  higher 
ways !  There  are,  thank  God,  many  who  come  to 
the  great  service  with  little  of  that  equipment 
which  most  men  prize  so  highly — “knowledge  of 
the  world.”  But  the  fact  that  they  have  little 
“experience”  does  not  mean  that  they  “don’t  know 
what  they  are  missing,”  nor  dees  it  make  their  sacri¬ 
fice  less  noble.  These  souls  love  life  not  less,  but 
more,  than  the  devotees  of  pleasure.  The  saints 
loved  more  ardently  than  we;  yes,  and  in  the  truest 
sense,  they  loved  the  world  more.  “They  loved  it 
well  enough  to  die  for  it.”  World-wearied  souls  too 
sometimes  find  a  refuge  in  the  life  of  consecration. 
Often  God  calls  His  chosen  ones  by  sending  them 
sorrows  or  disappointments.  The  death  of  a  loved 
one  or  the  collapse  of  a  cherished  project  throws 
them  back  upon  God  as  their  only  sure  solace.  And 
they  find  His  service  the  sweeter  in  consequence. 

Yet  these  two  classes  by  no  means  make  up  the 
roll  of  honor.  Thousands,  like  Ignatius,  leave  the 
world  with  life  at  its  brightest  and  love  at  its  truest. 
The  vocation  angel  calls  them  when  life  promises 
most.  The  world  holds  out  a  brimming  cup  for 
their  lips  and  garlands  for  their  brows.  Yet,  as 
the  clear  “Leave  all !”  sounds  in  their  ears,  they 
turn  their  backs  upon  the  whole  thing,  with  some¬ 
thing  like  regret  perhaps,  yet  resolute  of  heart. 

“I  was  a  youth  in  crowded  cities  gay, 

Where  men  before  the  idol  Pleasure  fall ; 


24 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


’Twas  at  a  reckless,  merry,  midnight  play, 

I  heard  aghast  dread  words,  ‘Leave  all !  Leave 
all !’  ” 

Ignatius  was  not  the  man  to  let  family  ties  or  any 
worldly  consideration  change  his  purpose.  He  loved 
Loyola  with  all  his  devoted  soul,  but  he  knew  the 
price  of  his  dream.  The  loss  of  home  and  family 
wTas  a  part  of  that  price.  If  his  reply  to  Don  Martin 
seem  to  us  somewhat  cold,  we  know  that  it  did  not 
proceed  from  indifference  to  the  sacred  ties  of  blood 
and  birthplace.  He  heeded  a  higher  call.  Beneath 
his  brief  and  non-committal  answer  we  can  well 
believe  that  wounded  nature  was  struggling  with 
his  determined  will.  But  no  sign  of  that  conflict 
was  allowed  to  appear.  He  replied  that  he  con¬ 
templated  nothing  unreasonable,  and  that  the  honor 
of  the  house  of  Loyola  should  not  suffer  through 
any  action  of  his.  With  this  assurance  his  brother 
was  forced  to  be  satisfied.  If  Don  Martin  only 
knew!  There  rode  forth  from  Loyola  that  day  one 
who  was  to  make  that  house  illustrious  in  a  degree 
beyond  his  most  ambitious  dreams. 

The  monastery  of  Our  Lady  of  Montserrat  was 
situated  high  up  on  the  slope  of  a  detached  chain 
of  the  Pyrenees,  about  a  day’s  journey  from  Barce¬ 
lona.  Here,  one  day  in  March,  Ignatius  dismounted 
from  his  mule  and  asked  for  a  spiritual  director. 
A  priest  was  appointed  for  him,  and  our  soldier 
immediately  began  his  preparation  for  a  general 
confession.  He  went  over  his  whole  life  and  con¬ 
fessed  his  sins  with  tears  of  contrition,  then  laid 
before  his  director  the  new  plan  of  life  to  which  he 
believed  himself  called.  The  monk  approved  of  his 
resolution,  and  with  this  sanction  Ignatius  signal¬ 
ized  his  renunciation  in  a  characteristic  way. 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


25 


The  knights  of  old  had  been  accustomed,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  laws  of  chivalry,  to  keep  the  night-watch 
of  arms  before  the  altar,  preparatory  to  receiving 
their  spurs.  He  would  keep  the  night-watch  of 
love  in  token  of  his  enlistment  in  the  cause  of 
Christ. 

It  "was  the  eve  of  the  Annunciation.  He  put  off 
his  fine  clothes  and  gave  them  to  a  passing  beggar  ; 
then  dressed  himself  in  a  cloak  of  coarse  sackcloth 
with  a  cord  about  his  waist,  took  a  pilgrim’s  staff 
in  his  hand,  and  went  before  our  Lady’s  altar. 
Beside  that  altar  he  hung  up  his  sword,  the  finely 
tempered,  damascened  steel  rapier  which  may  be 
seen  today  at  the  Church  of  Belem  in  Barcelona. 

What  rapture  filled  his  soul  that  night,  only  the 
angels  of  the  sanctuary  could  tell.  Here  was  the 
dedication  of  himself  and  his  dream.  Knights  of 
the  olden  time  had  kept  that  watch  clad  in  full 
armor,  with  their  hands  upon  their  swords ;  he  kept 
it  clothed  in  the  poor  garment  of  an  outcast  mendi¬ 
cant,  leaning  on  his  staff.  Where  they  had  dreamed 
of  marshalled  battalions  advancing  to  the  Holy 
Land  with  the  eyes  of  all  the  world  upon  them,  he 
dreamed  of  a  lone  pilgrimage  with  none  but  Christ 
to  keep  him  company.  They  had  sworn  fealty  to 
their  lady-love;  he  chose  Mary,  Queen  of  Heaven, 
to  be  his  inspiration  and  his  guide.  Tears  wet  his 
eyes  as  he  gazed  through  the  night  on  the  dwelling- 
place  of  his  new  Captain.  He  had  so  long  neglected 
his  King!  Evermore  his  warfare  would  be  that  of 
Christ,  and  he  would  begin  that  warfare  with 
himself.  His  own  soul  was  the  first  battle-ground; 
after  that,  the  world!  By  God’s  help  and  the  favor 
of  our  Lady,  he  would  there  wage  a  war  which 
Heaven  should  approve. 

Morning  dawned  and  found  him  still  watching. 


26 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


At  Mass  he  received  his  Lord  in  Holy  Communion 
and  then  went  forth  to  do  what  God  should  direct. 

A  few  miles  from  the  monastery  was  the  little 
town  of  Manresa.  Here  Ignatius  found  lodgings 
in  the  hospital.  Hospitals  at  that  time  were  the 
sorry  refuges  of  those  who  had  no  home,  and  it  was 
among  the  outcasts  of  society  that  Ignatius  took  up 
his  abode.  He  lived  on  the  little  bread  he  could 
beg,  and  devoted  himself  to  prayer,  penance,  and 
the  service  of  the  sick  about  him. 

His  idea  was  to  go  directly  counter  to  his  natural 
inclinations,  and  with  this  in  view  he  not  only 
imposed  upon  himself  the  most  cruel  penances  and 
fatiguing  labors,  but  strove  to  pass  as  the  lowest 
of  vagabonds.  Recognition  by  the  world  had  been 
the  guiding  motive  of  his  former  life.  Now  he  sought 
only  to  be  ignored  and  unnoticed.  In  this  latter 
desire  his  success  was  only  partial.  His  natural 
grace  and  refinement  could  not  be  hidden.  More¬ 
over,  many  learned  of  his  renunciation  and  despised 
him  accordingly — nor  did  they  hesitate  to  speak  out 
their  sentiments  in  public.  Ignatius  welcomed  this 
treatment.  It  too  was  a  part  of  the  price  of  his 
dream.  A  natural  impulse  of  resentment  must  have 
sprung  up  in  his  warrior  heart,  but  it  was  sup¬ 
pressed  before  its  manifestation.  Had  not  Christ, 
his  new  Captain,  been  proclaimed  a  fool  to  all  the 
world? 

God  was  pleased  with  the  constancy  of  His 
soldier.  He  loved  that  heart  of  fire,  and  He  had 
further  designs  for  it.  It  was  probably  by  an 
inspiration  of  divine  grace  that  Ignatius  decided, 
after  four  months  of  this  lowly  existence,  to  seek 
a  place  of  retirement  and  give  himself  entirely  to 
prayer  and  penance. 


V 


Not  far  from  the  town,  on  a  rocky  slope  over¬ 
looking  a  beautiful  valley  which  was  called  “The 
Vale  of  Paradise,”  Ignatius  found  a  dark,  unfre¬ 
quented  cave  which  he  determined  to  make  his 
hermitage.  For  six  months  this  was  his  home.  Pie 
left  it  only  at  rare  intervals  to  make  a  short  pilgrim¬ 
age  to  neighboring  shrines  or  to  beg  the  little  food 
he  would  allow  himself.  On  two  occasions,  when 
weakened  and  feverish  from  his  austerities,  he  was 
removed  to  the  hospital  for  a  short  stay. 

In  this  place  of  self-exile  Ignatius  passed  through 
experiences  which  only  the  greatest  friends  of  God 
ever  know.  He  meant  business  and  wanted  to  show 
himself  in  earnest.  He  therefore  spent  whole  nights 
in  meditation,  fasted  three  and  even  four  days  in 
succession,  scourged  himself  repeatedly,  and  slept, 
when  overcome  by  exhaustion,  on  the  damp  stone 
floor. 

All  this,  however,  was  the  smallest  part  of  his 
trial.  As  the  greatest  sufferings  of  Christ  on  the 
Cross  were  not  physical,  but  consisted  in  the  with¬ 
drawal  of  the  support  of  His  Father,  so  the  supreme 
test  of  the  follower  of  Christ  consists  in  tasting  at 
least  some  part  of  the  dereliction  of  Calvary.  Up  to 
this  time  the  Saint  had  found  nothing  but  comfort 
and  joy  in  his  devotions.  Now  God  seemed  to  have 
abandoned  him,  and  his  soul  was  left  as  forsaken 
and  cold  as  his  lonely  home. 

Here  again  we  see  the  determination  that  makes 
for  sanctity.  Any  one  can  dream,  but  it  is  the 
working  out  of  the  dream  that  proves  the  man ;  any 


28 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


one  can  fight,  but  it  is  fighting  against  odds  that 
proves  the  soldier;  any  one  can  pray  when  consola¬ 
tions  are  showered  on  the  soul,  but  the  stamina  and 
steadfastness  of  God’s  friends  are  proved  by 
persevering  in  prayer  when  the  Heavens  are  as 
brass  and  God  seems  deaf  to  all  appeals.  The  man 
who  continues  to  pray,  and  believe,  and  hope,  and 
love,  when  he  does  not  feel  the  least  inclination  to 
do  so,  has  real  spiritual  strength.  “Everything  is 
worth  what  it  costs,”  as  the  old  French  saying  has 
it;  and  the  best  prayer  is  the  one  that  costs  us  most. 

Temptations  too  crowded  upon  him.  God  was 
fashioning  a  great  apostle,  and  every  apostle  must 
go  through  the  purifying  flames  of  temptation. 
Very  natural  to  flesh  and  blood  was  the  thought, 
“If  this  life  is  so  hard  at  its  very  beginning,  how 
can  I  expect  to  keep  it  up  through  long  years?”  He 
realized,  however,  that  the  subtle  question  was  put 
by  the  devil,  and  he  responded  with  another  ques¬ 
tion,  “Long  years?  Wretch,  can  you  promise  me 
one  hour  of  life?” 

Carried  off  to  the  hospital  with  his  body  weak¬ 
ened  to  helplessness,  the  thought  came  to  him,  as 
he  lay  suffering,  that  death  need  have  no  terrors 
for  him  now,  since  he  had  surely  merited  Heaven  by 
his  mortifications.  A  reasonable  thought,  we  might 
say.  But  Ignatius,  after  a  moment’s  reflection, 
looked  upon  it  as  a  piece  of  sheer  presumption.  To 
overcome  the  suggestion,  he  recalled  the  sins  of 
his  life  and  told  those  who  attended  him  to  remind 
him  constantly  of  his  unworthy  condition  in  the 
sight  of  God. 

But  the  most  awful  trial  of  all  was  to  come. 
Manresa  was  his  novitiate.  He  was  to  become  a 
master  in  the  direction  of  souls,  and  here  he  was  to 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


29 


learn  all  the  tortuous  ways  by  which  souls  are 
purified.  God  permitted  him  to  be  tried  by  scruples 
of  conscience  which  gave  him  absolutely  no  rest. 
Was  the  general  confession  he  had  made  a  valid 
one?  Had  he  confessed  this  or  that  sin?  Did  he 
have  real  contrition?  These  and  a  thousand  similar 
questions  presented  themselves  and  only  increased 
his  agony  the  more  he  thought  of  them.  His  con¬ 
fessor  could  not  quiet  him.  Holy  Communion  served 
but  to  intensify  his  anguish,  for  he  feared  it  was 
but  an  occasion  of  deeper  damnation. 

We  can  understand  something  of  the  horror  of 
his  affliction  from  the  lengths  to  which  it  led  him. 
It  was  while  staying  at  the  house  of  the  Dominicans 
in  the  town  that  the  torment  reached  its  climax  in 
a  violent  impulse  to  throw  himself  from  the  window 
of  his  cell  to  the  rocks  below.  In  his  excess  of 
misery  it  seemed  for  the  moment  that  death  with 
its  worst  consequences  were  better  than  life  under 
such  hard  conditions.  Was  this  the  same  Ignatius 
that  had  so  lately  kept  the  night-watch  of  love  and 
looked  forward  to  sufferings  with  such  eager  long¬ 
ing?  Ah,  how  commonplace  in  their  reality  are 
many  of  the  heroic  things  we  mark  out  for  ourselves 
in  dreams!  By  sheer  force  of  will  he  corresponded 
with  the  grace  given  him  and  conquered  the  tempta¬ 
tion.  But  the  torment  continued  until,  with  a  sort 
of  desperation,  he  resolved  to  deny  himself  all  food 
until  God  should  free  him. 

We  see  in  this  something  of  that  compelling 
insistence  with  God  which  is  often  remarked  in 
great  saints.  To  us  it  seems  almost  impudence,  yet 
in  an  exalted  soul  it  may  be  looked  upon  as  the 
confidence  of  the  simple  child  in  the  goodness  of 
his  father.  It  is  no  mere  pouting,  but  a  firm  belief 


30 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


that  God  will  be  moved  by  a  supremely  earnest 
appeal.  While  Saint  Patrick  prayed  for  Ireland  on 
Mount  Cruachan,  we  are  told  that  he  refused  to  be 
satisfied  or  to  rise  from  his  knees  when  the  angel 
assured  him  that  his  first  petitions  were  granted. 
He  had  other  favors  to  ask ;  and,  though  told 
explicitly  to  be  satisfied,  he  prayed  on  and  would 
not  be  silenced,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  all  the  fury 
of  the  elements  and  the  hosts  of  hell  were  turned 
against  him.  And  he  was  rewarded,  for  the  angel 
finally  brought  him  assurance  that  God  granted  his 
last  petition — it  seems  to  us  almost  a  demand — 
Ireland  would  forever  bear  the  Cross.  So  Ignatius 
formed  this  resolution,  which  looks  like  making  a 
condition  with  God,  and  for  seven  days  he  abstained 
from  all  food.  Then  his  confessor  learned  of  the 
proceeding  and  threatened  to  refuse  him  absolution 
unless  he  immediately  gave  up  the  plan.  He  obeyed 
at  once,  and  from  that  time  the  scruples  became  less- 
troublesome.  After  a  few  days  he  emerged  from 
the  darkness  of  desolation,  his  lesson  learned. 

Weaker  souls  are  not  put  to  such  tests;  yet  all 
who  are  in  earnest  are  tested.  If  all  vocations  cost 
so  much,  few  would  be  strong  enough  to  persevere. 
But  it  seems  to  be  in  God’s  providence  that  a  few 
spiritual  geniuses,  by  going  through  the  whole 
gamut  of  interior  suffering,  should  pave  the  way 
for  the  more  ordinary  people  who  make  up  the  great 
army  of  God’s  workers.  The  dispensation  from 
such  agonies  seems  to  be  a  legacy  left  us  by  the 
saints.  By  their  constancy  they  have  supplied  for 
our  weakness ;  by  their  sufferings  they  have 
bought  our  vocations.  Saint  Ignatius  embodied 
this  legacy  in  a  written  manual  which  is  forever 
connected  with  his  experiences  at  Manresa,  and 
which  has  pointed  out  to  thousands  of  inquiring 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


31 


and  anxious  souls  the  entrance  to  the  way  of  per¬ 
fection  and  enduring  peace. 

The  book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  beginning 
with  the  plain  fact  that  man  is  created  by  God,  leads 
the  soul  to  the  highest  spiritual  realities  and  at  the 
same  time  provides  helps  and  suggestions  by  which 
these  steps  can  be  taken  safely  and  profitably. 
Though  this  is  not  the  place  to  treat  of  the  Exer¬ 
cises  at  length,  we  cannot  pass  them  over  in  the 
consideration  of  this  period  of  Ignatius’s  life.  In 
the  Exercises  we  find  a  great  deal  of  the  soldier- 
spirit,  a  reflection  of  his  own  ardent,  military  nature. 
But  it  is  no  romance;  it  is  a  plain  statement  of 
man’s  true  position  on  earth,  his  duties,  and  the 
helps  at  hand  to  gain  his  destiny.  This  treatise 
has  brought  its  thousands  to  the  higher  way,  and 
it  is  to-day  the  groundwork  of  far-reaching,  effec¬ 
tive,  apostolic  work. 

Ignatius  came  from  Manresa  with  a  fire-tried, 
chastened  soul  and  with  an  incomparably  clearer 
knowledge  of  the  things  of  God.  lie  had  held  close 
communion  with  our  Lord,  and  it  is  certain  that 
here  divine  truths  passing  all  human  understanding 
were  made  clear  to  him.  He  afterwards  said  that 
he  had  learned  more  in  an  hour  of  prayer  at  Man¬ 
resa  than  all  the  wise  men  of  the  world  could  teach 
him.  He  was  privileged  to  behold  visions  of  our 
Lord's  Sacred  Humanity  and  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  while  the  mysteries  of  the  Trinity  and  of 
Christ’s  presence  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  were 
subjects  of  vivid  interior  revelations.  And  it  was 
here  that  he  worked  out  his  inspiring  meditation  on 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  built  upon  it  the  plan 
of  his  Society  of  Jesus. 


VI 


The  life  of  Saint  Ignatius  is  a  striking  illustration 
of  the  principle  that  grace  does  not  destroy,  but 
perfects,  nature.  The  penitent  of  Manresa  was  a 
very  different  man  from  the  hero  of  Pamplona. 
Yet  there  was  no  violence  in  the  change.  In  be¬ 
coming  a  Saint,  he  remained  every  inch  a  soldier. 
He  was  still  a  fighter,  still  a  dreamer,  with  all  the 
enthusiasm,  and  love,  and  loyalty,  and  high  resolve 
that  possessed  him  in  earlier  years.  There  was 
simply  a  transfer  of  allegiance.  He  was  marching 
under  another  flag,  following  another  Leader,  doing 
battle  In  another  cause. 

Had  he  kept  to  the  profession  of  arms,  his  name 
might  be  written  to-day  with  that  of  the  Lion- 
hearted  Richard  or  the  Fearless  Bayard.  And  the 
same  rare  qualities  which  would  have  given  him 
that  place  among  military  heroes  were  the  very 
qualities  that  have  given  him  a  more  glorious  place 
among  the  sainted  servants  of  God.  Nothing  but 
death  would  have  kept  him  from  reaching  the  very 
first  rank  in  the  army.  He  was  a  leader  indeed,  a 
man  who  understood  men  and  had  the  gift  of 
moving  them.  He  knew  the  human  heart ;  and  that 
knowledge,  ennobled  and  intensified  by  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  grace,  gave  him  inspiration  for  a  new  and 
daring  dream.  He  would  rally  an  army  to  the  cause 
of  his  King. 

He  had  unbounded  faith  in  the  natural  goodness 
of  men.  Man’s  every  impulse,  his  every  desire,  his 
every  passion  was  given  him  by  God  for  noble 
purposes  and,  if  rightly  directed,  would  raise  his 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


33 


weak  nature  to  the  highest  dignity.  In  the  heart 
of  every  man  there  were  possibilities  without 
number.  Given  proper  motives,  men  were  capable 
of  the  most  heroic  sacrifices.  They  would  die  for 
an  idea  if  that  idea  were  but  put  before  them  as 
something  worthy  of  their  loyalty  and  love.  All 
this  he  knew ;  and  in  the  cave  of  Manresa  he  built 
upon  this  knowledge  a  plan  that  none  but  the 
boldest  dreamer  inspired  of  God  could  have 
conceived. 

The  old  dream  was  not  forgotten.  Indeed  it  was 
woven  with  all  its  glamour,  all  its  compelling 
attraction,  into  the  texture  of  the  new.  The  very 
heart  of  that  old  dream  was  thrown  into  one  daring 
project,  and  the  hopes  of  a  lifetime  were  crystallized 
in  one  world-wide  plan  which  he  called  the  Medita¬ 
tion  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

This  meditation  is  a  trumpet-call  to  battle,  a 
summons  to  every  man  with  warm  blood  in  his 
veins  and  right  ambition  in  his  heart.  It  sets  a 
mark  for  the  highest  endeavor;  it  is  the  device  of 
the  true  soldier  of  Christ ;  and  when  we  understand 
it,  we  understand  the  dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint. 

The  meditation  begins  with  the  consideration  of 
a  great  Crusade  organized  to  do  battle  with  the 
enemies  of  God.  The  movement  is  set  on  foot  by 
a  king  whom  all  Christians  acknowledge  and 
reverence  as  their  sovereign.  We  attribute  to  him 
all  the  noble  qualities  usually  associated  with  the 
ideal  ruler;  as  brave  a  soldier  as  Richard  the  Lion- 
hearted,  as  capable  a  general  as  Napoleon,  as  lovable 
a  man  as  our  own  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  prudent 
and  pious  a  Christian  as  Saint  Louis  of  France. 

Given  all  these  qualities  in  the  highest  degree, 
we  suppose  this  king  to  be  specially  commissioned 


34 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


by  God  to  organize  a  Crusade  against  the  infidels. 
He  issues  a  proclamation.  He  calls  on  all  Christian 
men  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  assemble  at  his 
court,  and  from  every  nation  they  answer  the 
summons.  They  stand  before  him  on  the  appointed 
day,  and  the  king  makes  his  appeal.  He  lays  down 
his  terms.  Never  in  the  history  of  all  time  was  such 
an  appeal  made  or  such  terms  offered. 

“My  purpose  in  this  campaign,”  the  king  an¬ 
nounces,  “is  to  bring  all  the  infidel  nations  to  the 
standard  of  Christ.  God  wills  it,  for  I  have  received 
my  commission  directly  from  Him.  The  infidels 
of  the  East  possess  the  Holy  Land,  and  they  have 
profaned  all  that  we  hold  sacred.  Nay  more,  they 
have  for  their  object  the  complete  overthrow  of 
Christianity,  and  if  we  do  not  at  once  advance 
against  them,  we  can  look  forward  to  nothing  but 
the  destruction  of  God’s  Church,  and  the  horrors  of 
barbarism’s  supplanting  Christianity  in  all  the 
world.  Moreover  we  have  God’s  word  for  it  that 
we  shall  be  victorious.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the 
issue. 

“I  myself  will  lead  the  way.  Those  who  follow 
me  must  be  prepared  to  accept  with  me  the  fortune 
of  war.  Hardships  there  will  be,  and  bloody  fight¬ 
ing;  but  hardships  are  the  soldier’s  lot,  and  fighting 
is  his  profession.  This  is  to  be  no  mercenary 
service.  It  is  a  free  service,  a  service  of  love.  It  is 
God’s  own  holy  cause.  Hunger  and  thirst,  exposure 
and  fatigue,  wounds  and  perhaps  death  await  you 
on  the  field. 

“But  know  this,  that  our  cause  is  common.  It  is 
yours  and  mine.  I  will  be  with  you  every  step  of 
the  way,  and  I  will  count  it  an  honor  to  be  called 
the  brother  in  arms  of  every  man  in  the  ranks.  You 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


35 


will  undergo  no  danger,  suffer  no  hardship  in  which 
I  will  not  have  part.  On  your  side  I  only  ask  that 
you  dare  the  same  as  I  dare  and  endure  what  I 
endure.  You  are  to  be  content  with  the  same  food, 
the  same  equipment,  the  same  duties  as  I.  And  on 
the  field  of  battle  I  only  ask  that  you  follow  where 
I  lead  and  thus  gain  for  yourselves  an  equal  part 
with  me  in  the  glory  and  the  spoils  of  victory.” 

What  man,  thought  Ignatius,  with  a  sword  at  his 
side  and  an  arm  to  wield  it,  would  refuse  such  an 
offer  !  A  righteous  cause  ;  a  necessary  war  ;  victory 
assured ;  and,  above  all,  a  leader  so  disinterested 
and  so  lovable :  with  all  these  motives  to  inspire  his 
soul  and  nerve  his  arm,  who  but  a  recreant  knight, 
a  coward  unworthy  to  breathe  the  same  air  with 
true  men,  could  think  of  any  course  but  instant, 
whole-hearted  assent.  Surely  the  first  impulse  of 
the  true  knight  would  be  to  identify  himself  with 
such  a  glorious  cause  at  once,  to  volunteer  on  the 
spot ;  yes,  and  to  strive  by  the  might  of  his  arm  to 
win  a  place  among  the  chosen  friends  of  such  a 
leader — to  put  himself  in  the  front  rank,  in  the 
king’s  own  body-guard. 

All  that  fictitious  campaign  was  very  real  to 
Ignatius  as  he  worked  it  over  in  his  mind  in  the 
cave  of  Manresa.  For  he  applied  every  detail  of  it 
to  a  true  King,  One  who  surpassed  any  human  ruler 
more  than  fancy  could  say.  Had  not  Christ,  the 
eternal  King,  a  great  cause  at  heart,  a  cause  for 
which  He  had  come  down  from  Heaven  to  enlist 
an  armv?  For  that  cause  He  had  died  on  a  bloody 

J  * 

cross.  And  His  design  was  to  rally  every  true  man 
to  the  standard  of  that  cross  and  thus  to  spread  His 
kingdom  through  the  whole  world.  Victory  was 
assured,  for  He  had  promised  that  the  forces  of 
evil  should  not  prevail. 


36 


Dream  of  ti-ie  Soldier  Saint 


And  did  He  not  offer  the  same  terms  to  those  who 
cast  their  lot  with  Him?  It  meant  privation,  suffer¬ 
ing,  and  danger.  But  in  all  things  He,  the  Leader, 
took  His  share  and  more.  Ah,  what  could  the 
soldier  of  Christ  suffer  that  his  Leader  had  not 
suffered  before  him?  There  was  not  a  single  pain 
of  body  nor  pang  of  soul  that  He  had  not  felt  with 
an  intensity  of  agony  unimaginable  to  any  mere 
man.  He  had  gone  out  from  the  dearest  home  that 
this  earth  ever  save,  to  make  known  His  cause  to  a 
bitterly  hostile  world.  Hunger  and  cold,  fatigue, 
contempt,  and  violence  had  been  His  portion.  He 
had  known  the  weariness  of  labor,  the  sting  of 
temptation,  the  loss  of  loved  ones,  the  agony  of 
desolation,  the  shame  of  public  scorn ;  yes,  and  the 
throes  of  an  awful  death-agony.  But  for  the  shame 
of  sin,  the  human  body  could  suffer  no  degradation 
that  He  had  not  suffered;  but  for  remorse  of  con¬ 
science,  the  human  soul  was  not  capable  of  a  pain 
that  He  had  not  endured.  This  was  the  Brother  in 
Arms  of  the  least  of  His  followers;  the  Man  of 
Sorrows,  walking  up  and  down  the  highways  of 
Judea,  weary  and  footsore,  misunderstood  and 
calumniated. 

He  had  called  for  volunteers ;  and  the  essence  of 
His  service  consisted  in  the  hearty  good  will  to 
imitate  Llim :  “Sell  what  thou  hast,  give  to  the 
poor,  and  come,  follow  me!”  It  meant  the  carrying 
of  a  heavy  cross;  but  He  had  led  the  way.  And 
victory  was  assured :  “Amen,  I  say  to  you,  there 
is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  parents,  or 
brethren,  or  wife,  or  children,  for  the  kingdom  of 
God’s  sake,  who  shall  not  receive  much  more  in 
this  present  time,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life 
everlasting.” 

Who  could  resist  such  an  appeal?  Who  so  ignoble 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


37 


as  to  refuse  such  terms?  None,  thought  Ignatius, 
but  a  weak-spirited,  miserable  coward.  To  follow 
Him,  the  true  man  would  sacrifice  all  else.  The 
man  of  any  mettle  would  strive  with  all  his  might 
to  gain  the  first  rank  in  this  army.  His  dearest 
wish  would  be  to  deserve  recognition  from  that 
Leader  by  particularly  devoted  service.  He  would 
strive  to  win  a  place  in  the  King’s  body-guard  and 
there  merit  the  high  favor  of  Christ. 

This  was  the  mold  in  which  the  new  dream  of 
Ignatius  was  cast.  And  he  began  at  once  to  look 
about  him  for  followers.  A  number  of  the  people 
of  Manresa  were  attracted  by  the  heroic  piety  he 
displayed;  and  often,  when  he  went  to  visit  a 
neighboring  shrine,  they  gathered  about  him  to 
hear  his  exhortations.  Though  his  ardent  preaching 
brought  him  many  disciples,  he  found  none  fitted 
for  the  Society  he  had  now  determined  to  form.  So 
he  resolved  to  leave  Manresa  and  make  his  way 
alone,  as  a  pilgrim,  to  Jerusalem. 


VII 


Any  one  who  reads  the  life  of  Saint  Ignatius  and 
remembers  the  main  details  will  always  have  ready 
to  his  lips  an  answer  to  the  too  common  statement  that 
extraordinary  attention  to  spiritual  things  unfits  a  man 
for  practical  affairs.  “Saints  have  no  spunk  or  punch 
in  them,”  we  hear  often  enough.  “Great  piety  is  all 
very  well  behind  convent  walls  or  in  monastery  cells, 
but  it  does  not  fit  one  to  meet  every-day  men  on  terms 
of  equality.” 

“Piety”  is  one  of  those  leveling  catchwords  that 
come  handy  to  the  tongues  of  complacent  but  undis¬ 
cerning  persons  who  are  well  content  with  mediocrity 
in  God’s  service.  They  entertain  something  like  con¬ 
tempt  for  the  man  who  practices  anything  more  than 
the  bare  essentials  of  his  Faith ;  and  with  their  airy, 
cock-sure  utterances  they  often  kill  out  the  quickening 
seeds  of  self-sacrifice  in  the  hearts  of  others.  Present 
the  life  of  consecration  to  the  average  young  person 
merely  as  something  hard,  and  he  will  only  find  further 
stimulation  in  the  thought;  condemn  it  with  a  patron¬ 
izing  smile  as  the  refuge  of  the  spineless  and  weak- 
kneed,  and  he  is  depressed  and  unnerved. 

The  saints,  like  Christ,  are  meek  and  gentle  in  dealing 
with  men ;  but  this  is  strength,  not  weakness.  When 
occasion  calls  for  it,  they  show  a  sublime  disregard  for 
human  opinion,  a  courageous  assertion  of  themselves 
which  is  a  standing  rebuke  to  the  world  that  fears  men 
rather  than  God. 

In  the  life  of  Ignatius  we  see  this  union  of  meekness 
and  lion-hearted  courage  constantly  brought  into  play. 
He  was  destined  to  meet  every  variety  of  opposition 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


39 


in  forming  the  Society  he  now  had  in  mind.  His  new 
dream  was  to  lead  him  across  unsafe  seas,  through  the 
camps  of  warring  nations  and  regions  stricken  with 
the  plague ;  then  back  again  with  many  anxious  ques¬ 
tionings  of  heart,  yet  always  with  the  firm  step  of  a 
man  who  knows  his  cause  is  of  God.  Soon  or  late  in 
God’s  good  time  he  knew  he  would  obtain  followers 
suited  to  his  purpose.  For  a  dream  of  such  glorious 
promise  he  could  afford  to  suffer  and  to  wait. 

It  is  beside  our  purpose  to  follow  him  through  all 
the  changing  fortunes  of  those  years.  But  even  in  a 
casual  and  general  survey  we  see  how  deep  and  wide 
he  had  laid  the  foundation  of  that  dream.  The  hardest 
buffets  of  fortune  only  left  him  the  more  determined. 
Yet  he  was  not  the  unbending,  stubborn  type  of  man. 
Had  he  been  such,  his  nature  would  have  been  soured 
and  his  spirit  broken.  Fie  had  rather  that  resilient, 
adaptable  disposition  which  stands  up  under  severest 
punishment  and,  with  renewed  vigor,  returns  to  the 
charge  after  apparent  defeat. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1523  he  set  out  for 
Barcelona,  the  port  for  Italy.  Here  he  begged  passage 
on  a  boat  bound  for  Gaeta.  The  captain  made  the  one 
condition  that  he  bring  with  him  sufficient  food  for 
the  voyage.  This  stipulation  was  a  hard  one  for 
Ignatius.  He  had  purposed  to  set  aside  the  dictates 
of  human  prudence  and  throw  himself  entirely  on  the 
providence  of  God.  But  according  to  the  rule  he  had 
now  made  for  himself,  he  sought  direction ;  after 
consulting  a  priest,  he  complied  and  procured  his 
provisions  by  begging.  Twenty  days  passed  before  the 
time  set  for  sailing.  And  in  that  interval  the  people  of 
Barcelona  found  that  they  were  entertaining  a  Saint. 
Small  entertainment  he  required  beyond  their  attend¬ 
ance  at  the  sermons  he  preached  in  the  streets.  He 
soon  had  a  considerable  number  of  followers,  and 


40 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


among  them  was  Doha  Isabel  Roser,  a  woman  who 
became  a  great  benefactor  of  the  Saint  at  a  later  period. 
After  one  more  fruitless  effort  to  find  men  fitted  for 
his  work,  he  departed  alone.  Five  days  after  sailing, 
he  arrived  at  Gaeta,  and  from  there  immediately  set 
out  for  Rome. 

Fie  had  trouble  enough  to  make  his  way,  as  he  was 
still  very  weak,  and  his  haggard  appearance  led  those 
he  met  with  to  suspect  he  was  a  victim  of  the  plague 
then  breaking  out  in  Italy.  But  he  finally  reached 
Rome  on  Palm  Sunday  and,  through  the  influence  of 
some  Spaniards  he  came  upon,  secured  from  Pope 
Adrian  VI  a  passport  to  Jerusalem  and  the  papal 
blessing  as  a  pilgrim  to  the  Holy  Land.  Flis  friends 
tried  to  induce  him  to  give  up  the  pilgrimage  or  at 
least  defer  it :  his  health  was  bad ;  war  and  plague  made 
land-travel  dangerous ;  and  the  seas  were  scoured  by 
hostile  Turkish  ships.  As  these  considerations  had  no 
effect,  they  gave  him  several  gold  pieces  and  allowed 
him  to  go,  assuring  him  that  without  the  money  he 
could  not  get  passage  on  shipboard.  He  accepted  the 
money  but,  repenting  this  want  of  trust  in  Providence, 
gave  it  to  the  poor  as  he  passed  out  of  the  city. 

As  before,  his  weakness  made  his  progress  slow. 
Moreover,  he  was  warned  that  without  a  written  state¬ 
ment  certifying  that  he  came  from  districts  unvisited 
by  the  plague,  he  would  not  be  allowed  to  enter  Venice. 
He  pushed  on,  however,  trusting  in  God’s  help ;  and, 
as  if  to  reward  his  fidelity,  our  Lord  appeared  to  him, 
leaving  him  consoled  and  confident.  His  trust  was  not 
misplaced;  for,  on  arriving  at  Venice  in  company  with 
other  travellers  who  had  secured  the  certificates 
demanded,  he  alone  passed  in  without  being  challenged. 

That  night  as  he  slept  on  the  stone  pavement  of 
St.  Mark’s  piazza,  he  was  found  by  a  certain  Mark 
Antonio  Trevassani,  a  senator  and  a  most  devout  man, 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


41 


who  immediately  brought  the  pilgrim  to  his  palace 
and  provided  him  with  food.  During  his  short  stay  in 
Venice  he  was  also  assisted  by  a  Spanish  merchant 
who,  besides  giving  him  food  and  lodging,  obtained 
for  him  free  passage  on  a  government  ship.  On  the 
day  of  departure,  however,  he  was  so  ill  with  fever 
that  a  physician  told  him  bluntly  that  the  ship  would  be 
his  sepulcher.  As  might  have  been  expected,  he  did 
not  let  this  warning  stop  him;  and  he  recovered  his 
strength  soon  after  sailing. 

Among  the  passengers  and  crew  he  found  many 
rough,  vicious  characters  whose  language  and  behavior 
roused  his  impetuous  soul.  Day  in  and  day  out,  he 
spoke  his  mind  to  them  in  plain  and  vigorous  terms, 
though  other  Spaniards  on  board  cautioned  him  to  drop 
the  stern  apostolate.  Soon  the  objects  of  his  zeal  grew 
to  hate  his  ascetic  face  and  his  stinging  rebukes.  They 
resolved  to  rid  themselves  of  the  troublesome  passenger 
by  leaving  him  at  a  desert  island  which  they  were  to 
touch  in  passing.  But  a  contrary  wind  spoiled  the 
scheme.  They  missed  the  island,  and  Ignatius  was 
with  them  to  Cyprus.  From  here  he  embarked  on  a 
pilgrim  ship  which  soon  landed  him  safely  at  Joppa. 
There  he  joined  a  band  of  other  pilgrims  and  proceeded 
with  them  to  Jerusalem. 

His  whole  plan  at  this  time  was  to  remain  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem  permanently  and  there  form  his  Society  of  Jesus 
for  the  spread  of  the  honor  of  God’s  Church  among 
the  Mohammedans.  It  was  a  project  well  worthy  of 
his  aggressive  spirit.  To  him  it  was  a  crying  shame 
that  the  places  once  honored  by  the  presence  of  the 
Incarnate  God  should  now  be  profaned  by  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  unbelievers.  Stranger  and  beggar  that  he 
was,  did  he  hope  to  accomplish  with  spiritual  weap¬ 
ons  what  the  Christian  armies  of  Europe  had  so 
long  battled  for  in  vain?  If  the  question  occurred 


42 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


to  him,  it  did  not  give  him  a  moment’s  pause.  But 
God  soon  showed  him  that  the  Holy  City  was  not 
to  be  his  battle-ground. 

He  had  taken  up  his  residence  at  the  Franciscan 
monastery  and  had  signified  to  the  monks  his  intention 
of  remaining  in  the  city.  One  day,  however,  the  Pro¬ 
vincial  summoned  him  and  informed  him  kindly  that 
he  must  prepare  to  depart  on  the  following  day.  As 
Jerusalem  was  at  that  time  a  perilous  place  for  Chris¬ 
tians,  the  Provincial  had  been  empowered  to  send  them 
away  and  even  to  excommunicate  those  who  refused 
to  leave.  Thinking  that  this  measure  was  proposed 
merely  out  of  consideration  for  his  own  safety,  Igna¬ 
tius  at  first  protested  that  he  desired  nothing  so  much 
as  to  suffer  for  Christ.  Then  the  Provincial  men¬ 
tioned  his  authority  and  offered  to  show  him  the  pon¬ 
tifical  papers. 

Here  sounded  the  knell  of  the  Saint’s  dearest  hope. 
Who  can  say  how  ardently  he  had  dwelt  on  that 
dream?  It  had  become  as  the  breath  of  his  body, 
and.  in  an  instant  it  was  taken  away.  In  the  Pro¬ 
vincial’s  voice  he  recognized  that  of  God ;  and,  though 
it  must  have  been  with  a  dead  weight  of  grief  in  his 
heart,  he  bowed  his  head.  He  turned  away  without 
waiting  for  the  papers  to  be  shown  him.  The  word 
of  authority  was  enough  for  the  soldier. 


VIII 


“What  to  do?”  was  the  question  in  the  mind  of 
Ignatius  as  he  left  the  city  which  he  loved  for  its 
sacred  associations  with  the  Son  of  God,  his  King. 
We  cannot  doubt  that  he  was  saddened  by  the  col¬ 
lapse  of  his  design,  yet  there  was  no  thought  of  giving 
up.  He  knew  now  that  Jerusalem  was  not  to  be  his 
field  of  action.  But  somewhere  in  the  world  God 
would  give  him  opportunity  and  means  to  work  for 
His  sovereign  glory.  The  time  might  come  when  Jeru¬ 
salem  would  be  open  to  him ;  but  it  was  not  in  his 
nature  to  sit  down  and  wait  for  circumstances  to 
shape  themselves  to  his  purpose. 

Evidently  the  beginning  of  his  work  lay  in  Europe; 
and  during  the  return  voyage  he  weighed  carefully 
the  possibilities  which  this  change  of  scene  presented. 
One  thing  his  practical  mind  saw  at  once.  For  any 
effective  work  in  the  countries  of  Europe  a  solid  edu¬ 
cation  was  essential.  Heresy  and  schism  were  assail¬ 
ing  the  Church  with  devilish  fury  and  winning  thou¬ 
sands  of  souls  away  from  Christ  to  their  unholy  cause. 
To  meet  these  forces  on  their  own  ground,  scholarly 
attainments  as  well  as  piety  and  zeal  were  necessary. 
Hence,  we  see  our  Saint,  now  thirty-three  years  of 
age,  calmly  making  up  his  mind  to  go  straight  to  Bar¬ 
celona  and  there  put  himself  to  school  to  learn  gram¬ 
mar  ! 

The  pilgrim  ship  brought  him  only  as  far  as  Cyprus. 
Here  three  vessels  bound  for  Venice  lay  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor.  One  flew  the  Turkish  flag.  The  other 
two  were  Venetian  ships:  the  first,  large  and  strong; 
the  second,  small  and  unseaworthy.  The  other  pil- 


44 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


grims  secured  passage  in  the  stronger  ship  and  begged 
the  captain  to  admit  Ignatius  without  payment  in  con¬ 
sideration  of  his  destitution  and  his  saintliness.  The 
captain,  with  the  spirit  of  the  modern  man  of  means 
who  is  constantly  prevented  from  the  exercise  of  char¬ 
ity  by  the  fear  of  being  imposed  upon,  answered  that 
if  the  pilgrim  were  a  Saint,  he  might  walk  on  the 
water  as  Saint  James  had  done.  The  captain  of  the 
smaller  ship,  however,  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those 
rare  individuals  who  give  open-handedly  without  bur¬ 
dening  their  consciences  with  too  many  questions 
about  the  recipient’s  possible  unworthiness.  From  him 
Ignatius  obtained  free  passage.  Perhaps  the  worthy, 
captain  thought  the  presence  of  a  Saint  might  bring 
blessings  on  his  voyage.  If  so,  his  faith  was  soon 
justified. 

The  three  ships  cleared  the  harbor  with  a  favorable 
wind  and  all  indications  of  fair  weather.  Before  night 
came  down,  however,  a  violent  storm  arose ;  and 
though  the  battered  and  leaky  boat  which  bore  Igna¬ 
tius  weathered  the  gale  and  reached  Venice  in  safety, 
both  of  the  other  ships  were  dashed  to  pieces  on  the 
coast  of  Cyprus. 

From  Venice  Ignatius  set  out  like  a  common  beg¬ 
gar  for  Genoa;  and  he  kept  to  the  main  highroad 
though  this  led  him  through  the  warring  armies  of 
France  and  Spain.  Fie  was  twice  arrested  as  a  spy 
and,  in  the  first  instance,  suffered  rough  treatment 
before  his  release.  At  last  he  arrived  safely  at  Genoa 
and  immediately  secured  passage  on  a  ship  bound  for 
Barcelona,  the  captain  being  an  old  friend  of  his 
court  days  in  Spain. 

At  Barcelona  he  was  offered  free  tuition  by  a  cer¬ 
tain  pious  schoolmaster  named  Jerome  Ardebal,  while 
the  Lady  Isabel  Roser  and  others  who  had  been  won 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


45 


to  him  by  his  gentle  sanctity  gladly  provided  for  his 
necessities. 

He  now  gave  his  best  attention  to  the  hard  dry  prin¬ 
ciples  of  Latin  grammar.  Though  little  is  said  by  his 
biographers  about  this  period,  it  was  certainly  not  the 
least  heroic  part  of  his  struggle.  Most  boys  can  ap¬ 
preciate  his  position.  Here  was  a  man  who  had  made 
his  mark  in  the  world,  whose  whole  life  had  been  one 
of  intense  and  multiplied  activities,  taking  his  place 
with  mere  striplings  and  experiencing  day  after  day 
the  tedious  round  of  study  and  recitation  like  any 
schoolboy.  But  he  had  learned  to  ignore  natural  feel¬ 
ing.  Though  he  had  uncommon  difficulties  from  the 
start,  his  determination  carried  him  through.  He  had 
his  eye  on  one  great  object. 

While  here,  he  kept  to  his  rigorous  rule  as  far  as 
his  studies  would  permit  and  devoted  what  time  he 
could  spare  to  preaching  and  instruction.  As  usual, 
this  course  brought  him  the  devoted  admiration  of 
the  good  and  the  equally  devoted  hatred  of  the  bad. 
And  this  continued  at  Alcala,  whither  he  went  in  1526 
to  take  up  his  course  in  philosophy.  Here  the  busy- 
bodies  were  not  content  with  despising  him  for  living 
as  a  mendicant  when  he  could  find  means  of  support 
in  other  ways.  It  was  his  apostolate  that  worried 
them.  What  business  had  a  student  of  philosophy  to 
explain  Christian  Doctrine  to  the  people  and  draw 
such  numbers  after  him?  He  had  brought  a  few 
disciples  with  him  from  Barcelona  and  was  adding 
others  here.  These  made  themselves  conspicuous,  so 
the  critics  said,  by  wearing  the  same  kind  of  dress, 
as  if  they  were  duly  constituted  Religious. 

So  they  were  denounced  as  “Illuminati”  to  the  In¬ 
quisition,  and  officials  of  that  body  delegated  the  Vicar 
Figueroa  to  look  into  the  case. 


46 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


There  were  at  this  time  so  many  forms  of  heresy 
rampant  that  anything  unusual  in  matters  touching  the 
Faith  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion.  The  Inquisi¬ 
tion  was  constantly  invoked  to  examine  into  new 
practices  and  suppress  abuses.  We  must  not  wonder 
that  Ignatius,  Saint  though  he  was,  was  misunder¬ 
stood  and  violently  opposed  in  his  own  country  by 
men  whose  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  Church  can 
not  fairly  be  questioned.  These  men  did  not  and 
could  not  know  Ignatius  as  we  know  him.  His  sin¬ 
cerity  of  purpose  and  his  holiness  must  have  been 
apparent  to  all  who  dealt  with  him.  Yet  he  came  as 
the  herald  of  a  new  movement  at  a  time  when  every 
heresy  adopted  the  disguise  of  zeal.  Ignatius  under¬ 
stood  the  position  of  the  Inquisitors.  He  knew  the 
worth  of  his  project  and  knew  that  it  could  stand  the 
test  of  fair  examination.  He  dealt  with  the  tribunal 
in  an  open,  businesslike  way,  always  submissive,  yet 
always  firm  and  confident.  And  in  the  end  this  course 
brought  glory  to  his  cause.  To  us  there  may  be  an 
appearance  of  harshness  and  unfairness  in  the  re¬ 
peated  trials  to  which  he  was  forced  to  submit.  But 
at  that  time  strong  measures  were  required,  and  it 
was  inevitable  that  the  innocent  should  at  times  suffer 
on  account  of  conditions  which  made  prompt  and 
rigorous  action  a  necessity. 

Twice  within  four  months  Ignatius  was  called  upon 
to  explain  his  methods  and  plans,  but  no  error  was 
found  in  his  doctrine  or  manner  of  life.  The  Vicar, 
however,  bade  them  discontinue  the  custom  of  wear¬ 
ing  a  particular  dress,  and  he  was  promptly  obeyed. 

Four  months  after  the  second  trial  Ignatius  was 
arrested  and  committed  to  prison  where  he  remained 
seventeen  days  before  any  summons  was  issued.  As 
visitors  were  freely  admitted,  he  had  daily  opportunity 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


47 


of  imparting  his  fervent  instructions.  Figueroa  made 
another  careful  investigation  and  at  last  released  Igna¬ 
tius,  making  the  one  condition  that  he  and  his  com¬ 
panions  do  no  further  preaching  on  the  truths  of 
faith  until  they  had  completed  four  more  years  of 
study.  Ignatius,  saddened  by  the  thought  of  giving 
up  a  work  he  loved  so  well,  sought  counsel  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Toledo.  From  him  he  learned  that 
the  prohibition  was  binding  only  while  he  remained 
at  Alcala.  After  some  deliberation  he  determined  to 
leave  the  city  and  continue  his  studies  at  Salamanca. 
Accordingly,  some  time  in  the  latter  half  of  1527,  he 
set  out  for  that  place,  whither  four  of  his  companions 
had  already  gone. 

But  before  he  had  been  two  weeks  in  Salamanca, 
he  was  again  called  upon  for  explanations.  The  whole 
band  was  committed  to  prison,  and  for  a  short  time 
Ignatius  and  one  of  his  companions  were  kept  in 
chains.  He  submitted  all  his  writings  to  the  judges 
and,  in  an  examination  conducted  by  professors  of 
theology,  gave  clear  and  exact  answers  to  the  most 
difficult  questions.  When  he  was  explaining  the  “Spir¬ 
itual  Fxercises,”  the  judges  began  to  urge  difficulties. 
“What  T  have  said  is  either  true  or  false,”  was  the 
irresistible  answer,  “if  false,  condemn  it.”  No  con¬ 
demnation  followed,  and  a  few  days  later  they  were 
allowed  to  go  free. 

What  puzzled  the  judges  was  the  fact  that  a  man 
who  had  not  completed  his  studies  was  so  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  and  the 
mysteries  of  the  spiritual  life.  It  was  not  given  them 
to  know  of  the  revelations  of  Manresa.  Hence 
the  seeming  inconsistency  of  their  decision  in  the  case. 
They  could  not  condemn  Ignatius,  yet  they  felt  that 
it  would  be  imprudent  to  give  him  full  liberty  to 
preach.  So  they  made  the  condition  that  he  and 


48 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


his  companions  should  not  undertake  any  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  distinction  between  mortal  and  venial  sin. 

Ignatius  saw  at  once  that  this  prohibition  would 
prevent  anything  like  effective  work  for  souls.  Prisons 
had  no  terrors  for  him:  “For  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ/’ 
he  had  exclaimed,  “I  would  gladly  wear  all  the  hand¬ 
cuffs  and  chains  of  Salamanca.”  But  personal  free¬ 
dom  without  freedom  to  work  for  his  King  was  intol¬ 
erable.  After  much  prayer  and  consideration  he  de¬ 
cided  to  quit  Salamanca.  Fie  took  leave  of  his  com¬ 
panions,  none  of  whom  was  ever  to  rejoin  him,  and, 
late  in  the  year  1527,  set  out  on  foot  for  Paris. 


IX 


What  Palestine  and  his  own  native  land  had  re¬ 
fused  him,  Ignatius  was  to  find  in  Paris.  But  only 
after  years  of  violent  opposition  and  trials  of  every 
kind  was  he  to  see  there  the  beginnings  of  success. 
He  was  to  meet  much  the  same  difficulties  and  en¬ 
dure  much  the  same  rough  treatment  he  had  experi¬ 
enced  in  the  Spanish  cities. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  he  found  opportunity  to  give 
the  Spiritual  Exercises  to  three  fervent  disciples,  two 
of  whom  were  men  of  distinction  in  the  University. 
As  we  might  expect,  this  meant  new  troubles.  These 
men  immediately  took  up  the  manner  of  life  that 
Ignatius  followed,  and,  of  course,  their  friends  be¬ 
came  very  much  alarmed.  Complaints  were  lodged 
with  the  Inquisitors,  but  Ignatius  was  not  called  upon 
to  appear.  However,  the  end  was  not  yet. 

To  understand  the  situation,  we  must  remember 
that  Paris  was  at  this  time  a  center  of  freethinking, 
humanistic  influences.  Many  of  the  professors  of  the 
University,  intent  only  on  keeping  abreast  of  the 
popular  trend,  ignored,  if  they  did  not  discourage,  all 
moral  and  religious  instruction.  Hence  the  chosen 
work  of  Ignatius  was  destined  to  bring  him  anything 
but  popularity.  Yet  the  students  listened  to  him,  and 
his  instructions  had  such  effect  that  some  of  the  pro¬ 
fessors  began  to  entertain  the  bitterest  feelings 
towards  him.  Certain  academic  exercises  that  were 
given  on  Sunday  mornings  began  to  fall  off  in  attend¬ 
ance ;  for  the  students  were  following  Ignatius’s  ex¬ 
hortations  to  practice  more  devotions  on  Sunday. 

One  of  the  professors  made  complaint  to  Govea, 


50 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


the  principal  of  the  college,  and  the  latter  sentenced 
Ignatius  to  a  public  hogging.  This,  though  a  mere 
matter  of  form  which  caused  little  pain  to  the  vic¬ 
tim,  was  considered  a  deep  disgrace;  and  Ignatius, 
with  an  eye  to  the  results  this  disgrace  would  have 
on  his  work,  decided  to  protest  against  it.  Gladly 
would  he  have  borne  the  humiliation  for  Christ’s  sweet 
sake,  but  he  felt  that  the  proceeding  would  have  a 
permanently  bad  effect  on  his  apostolate.  He  went 
to  Govea  and  told  him  plainly  that  he  was  ready  to 
suffer  this  and  more  for  the  King  for  whom  he  had 
already  borne  imprisonment  and  chains;  but  that  it 
was  unfair  on  the  principal’s  part  to  destroy  his  power 
for  leading  men  to  God,  when  his  only  offense  was 
that  he  had  tried  to  impress  others  with  the  beauty 
and  truth  of  supernatural  things.  The  result  was 
that  Ignatius,  instead  of  being  disgraced,  was  publicly 
vindicated.  For  the  honest  Govea,  at  the  end  of  the 
appeal,  led  our  Saint  into  the  hall  where  all  were 
assembled,  and  there  made  a  handsome  apology.  The 
students  who  had  gathered  to  witness  his  humiliation 
saw  him  praised  to  his  face  as  a  man  of  God,  and 
that  by  one  who  had  authority  in  the  University.  And 
when  Govea  ended  the  eulogy  by  dropping  on  his 
knees  before  Ignatius,  their  respect  for  the  saintly 
beggar  was  increased  a  hundred-fold. 

Other  trials  he  had  which  did  not  end  so  happily, 
but  in  general  his  apostolate  was  attended  with  less 
difficulty  than  in  Spain. 

His  first  year  he  devoted  to  the  classics,  as  he  felt 
he  needed  better  foundation  before  going  on  to  higher 
studies.  In  October,  1529,  he  took  up  philosophy  in 
the  College  Sainte  Barbe;  and  here  he  met  the  men 
who  were  to  become  his  first  companions  in  the  Com¬ 
pany  of  Jesus.  The  first  of  all  was  Peter  Faber,  a 
native  of  Savoy,  who  shared  his  room.  This  brilliant 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


51 


and  pious  youth,  with  his  tender  conscience  and  warm 
heart,  became  much  attached  to  Ignatius;  and  when 
at  last  the  great  plan  was  confided  to  him,  he  entered 
into  it  with  enthusiasm. 

Next  there  came  within  the  sphere  of  Ignatius's 
influence  a  man  who  was  destined  to  confer  everlast¬ 
ing  glory  on  the  new  Society,  the  strong-souled  Fran¬ 
cis  Xavier.  But  Ignatius  did  not  find  this  high-born 
Spaniard  an  easy  conquest.  Xavier  was  lecturing 
at  the  time  on  Aristotle,  and  his  unusual  talents  were 
widely  talked  of.  This  success  he  looked  upon  only 
as  a  beginning ;  for  his  whole  ambition  was  to  make  a 
name  for  himself  among  the  world’s  men  of  learning. 
He  had  his  share  of  intellectual  pride,  and  the  lowli¬ 
ness  of  Ignatius  was  at  first  altogether  unintelligible 
to  him.  But  Ignatius  knew  his  man.  He  too  was 
a  Spaniard  and  a  dreamer.  He  had  once  responded 
as  heartily  to  the  appeal  of  fame  on  the  field  as  did 
Xavier  to  the  appeal  of  intellectual  renown.  Hence 
he  carefully  studied  his  method  of  approach  to  one 
in  whom  he  recognized  great  possibilities.  He  showed 
a  lively  concern  in  the  work  of  Xavier  and  promoted 
his  interests  in  every  possible  way.  Xavier  soon  be¬ 
gan  to  see  that  this  beggar  was  a  man  of  generous 
sentiments,  independent  thought,  and  vigorous  spirit. 
The  first  defenses  were  down  ;  and  Ignatius,  using  the 
weapons  he  knew  so  well,  laid  compelling  siege  to  that 
ambitious  heart.  “What  doth  it  profit  a  man  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?”  was  the 
question  he  put  before  his  high-minded  fellow  coun¬ 
tryman  each  time  they  met.  The  thought  worked  its 
way  into  the  soul  of  Xavier,  and  finally  it  battered 
down  the  foundations  of  the  old  dream.  He  sur¬ 
rendered  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  Ignatius  had  a  dis¬ 
ciple  after  his  own  heart. 

Up  from  Spain  came  James  Lainez  and  Alphonsus 


52 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


Salmeron,  men  well  advanced  in  philosophy  and  the 
classics,  and  bent  on  seeking  out  Ignatius  to  put  them¬ 
selves  under  his  direction;  for  he  had  left  a  name  for 
sanctity  behind  him  in  his  native  land.  They  passed 
through  the  Spiritual  Exercises  and  identified  them¬ 
selves  with  the  cause.  The  next  to  be  enlisted  were 
Nicholas  Bobadilla,  also  a  Spaniard,  and  Simon  Rod¬ 
riguez.  a  Portuguese  of  noble  birth. 

Here  Ignatius  had  his  Society  of  Jesus,  or  “Com¬ 
pany”  of  Jesus,  as  he  loved  to  call  it  in  imitation  of 
that  small  division  of  the  Spanish  army.  Though  his 
field  of  labor  was  not  yet  known  to  him,  he  was  sure 
that  work  would  be  provided.  His  heart  still  yearned 
for  the  Holy  Land.  To  Jerusalem,  if  it  were  at  all 
possible,  he  would  lead  his  men.  If  they  could  not 
remain  there,  they  might  at  least  make  a  pilgrimage 
of  preparation. 

In  July,  1534,  he  brought  the  seven  together  and 
outlined  his  plan,  so  far  as  it  had  taken  shape  in  his 
mind.  On  the  feast  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  they  gathered  in  the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  of 
Montmartre  to  make  their  first  solemn  pledge.  Faber, 
the  only  one  yet  ordained,  celebrated  the  Mass.  The 
rest,  before  receiving  Communion,  knelt  before  him,  as 
he  held  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  vowed  to  observe  per¬ 
petual  poverty  and  chastity ;  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land 
if  possible ;  and,  if  prevented,  to  place  themselves  en¬ 
tirely  at  the  disposal  of  Christ’s  Vicar  on  earth. 

The  dream  of  Ignatius  had  borne  its  first  fruit.  Not 
one  of  those  generous  recruits  but  kept  his  pledge  till 
death  and  proved  himself  a  true  knight  of  God.  We 
wonder  if  Heaven  sent  him  on  that  day  any  intimation 
of  the  profound  significance  of  that  ceremony.  For 
the  Church  had  sore  need  of  champions  such  as  they. 
In  that  same  year  Henry  VIII  of  England  threw  off 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


53 


finally  all  allegiance  to  the  Church  of  his  fathers.  In 
that  same  year  Martin  Luther  published  his  transla¬ 
tion  of  the  Bible  and  increased  his  followers  by  thou¬ 
sands.  The  Church  was  assailed  by  traitors  from 
within  and  whole  empires  from  without;  everywhere 
the  indifference  and  the  self-love  of  men  left  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  Christ  at  the  mercy  of  His  enemies.  And  this 
small  army  was  to  meet  full-front  that  world  of  oppo¬ 
sition,  intrenched  though  it  was  behind  the  battle¬ 
ments  of  political  intrigue  and  royal  authority.  Yet 
a  few  years,  and  this  poor  little  company  was  to  strike 
terror  into  the  foes  of  God  and  rekindle  the  spark  of 
faith  in  a  cold-hearted  generation.  Nay  more,  it  war. 
to  brave  the  perils  of  the  Indian  Ocean  to  plant  the 
standard  of  Christ  in  far  eastern  lands  and  rally  be¬ 
neath  that  standard  nations  yet  wandering  in  the  night 
of  ignorance.  All  this  the  captain  of  that  band  was 
to  see  before  his  death.  The  whole  plan  was  not  yet 
given  to  him ;  yet  we  cannot  but  feel  that  on  that 
morning  his  wrapt  soul,  so  attuned  to  the  designs  of 
God,  caught  some  prophetic  foretaste  of  the  glories 
to  be  won. 


X 


With  a  definite  end  before  them  and  a  new  incen¬ 
tive  for  their  best  efforts  the  members  of  the  new 
Society  went  back  to  their  theological  studies,  in  which 
they  soon  attracted  attention  by  the  thoroughness  of 
their  work.  As  yet  there  was  no  community  life,  but 
they  held  frequent  meetings  which  solidified  their 
union  and  strengthened  their  determination.  And  on 
each  anniversary  of  their  first  vows  they  again  assem¬ 
bled  at  Montmartre  to  renew  the  pledge.  Soon  three 
new  candidates  presented  themselves  and  were  event¬ 
ually  added  to  the  Society.  They  were  Claude  Le  Jay, 
John  Cod  u re,  and  Paschase  Broet. 

It  was  agreed  that  all  should  remain  at  Paris  until 
their  course  in  theology  was  completed.  But  Ignatius 
himself  returned  to  Spain  in  1535.  His  health  was 
wretched,  and  the  physicians  assured  him  that  it  could 
be  bettered  only  by  a  return  to  his  native  climate. 
Probably  this  consideration  alone  would  not  have  had 
much  influence  with  him,  but  some  of  his  companions 
wished  him  to  settle  their  business  affairs  in  that  coun¬ 
try.  Their  relatives  might  be  counted  on  to  make  some 
resistance  to  their  renunciation,  and  they  felt  that 
Ignatius  was  the  man  best  fitted  to  explain  the  situa¬ 
tion.  It  was  a  rather  delicate  mission  for  the  one 
who  had  induced  them  to  make  the  sacrifice,  but  he 
undertook  it  without  hesitation. 

The  day  before  his  departure  he  learned  that  the 
orthodoxy  of  his  teaching  had  been  called  into  ques¬ 
tion  and  that  an  accusation  to  that  effect  had  been 
laid  before  the  local  Inquisitor.  Without  waiting  to 


Dkeam  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


55 


be  summoned,  he  presented  himself  before  that  official. 
The  Inquisitor  informed  him  that  the  charge  was  with¬ 
out  sufficient  grounds.  He  was  curious,  however, 
about  the  “Exercises. ”  A  copy  was  handed  him,  and 
it  pleased  him  so  much  that  he  asked  to  keep  it.  But 
Ignatius  demanded  a  written  statement  of  his  inno¬ 
cence.  He  had  learned  a  lesson  from  previous  experi¬ 
ences,  and  he  wanted  to  be  sure  that  his  companions 
would  not  be  arraigned  on  false  charges  during  his 
absence.  So  he  brought  a  notary  to  the  office  of  the 
Inquisitor  and  had  a  document  drawn  up  duly  attest¬ 
ing  the  orthodoxy  of  his  works  and  writings.  After 
taking  this  precaution,  he  set  off  for  his  native  land. 

On  his  arrival  at  his  own  town  of  Azpeytia  his 
brother  tried  to  induce  him  to  lodge  at  his  old  home. 
But  Ignatius  stayed  at  the  public  hospital  and  lived  by 
begging  in  the  streets.  He  started  a  daily  Catechism 
class  for  children  and  soon  had  a  number  of  adults 
among  his  listeners.  His  own  brother,  who  had  at 
first  tried  to  discourage  him  in  this  work,  became  a 
regular  attendant.  On  Sundays  he  preached  to  thou¬ 
sands;  for  he  was  being  talked  of,  and  people  trav¬ 
elled  miles  to  hear  him.  Here  too  he  showed  him¬ 
self  something  of  a  “social  worker.”  He  had  an 
ordinance  passed  forbidding  gambling  and  other  preva¬ 
lent  abuses,  obtained  relief  for  the  poor  at  public 
expense,  and  revived  the  pious  old  custom  of  having 
the  Angelus  rung  three  times  daily. 

After  three  months  at  Azpeytia  his  health  was  in 
some  degree  restored.  He  prepared  to  leave  the  town 
and  attend  to  the  affairs  of  his  companions.  His  brother 
provided  him  with  a  horse  and  an  escort,  and  insisted 
that  he  accept  them,  at  least  to  the  boundary  of  the 
province.  Beyond  that  point  Ignatius  firmly  declined 
any  assistance,  but  travelled  on  foot  and  begged  his 
way. 


56 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


After  visiting  several  towns  and  disposing  of  the 
commissions  entrusted  to  him,  he  reached  Valencia 
and  embarked  for  Genoa.  The  ship  encountered  a 
violent  storm,  but  finally  reached  Genoa  in  safety, 
and  Ignatius  started  at  once  for  Venice.  He  lost  his 
way  on  the  pathless  heights  of  the  Apennines  and 
was  forced  to  creep  on  hands  and  knees  along  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  a  precipice,  where  he  was  in  imminent  peril 
of  falling  to  his  death.  As  he  approached  Bologna, 
he  slipped  from  a  narrow  bridge  into  a  muddy  ditch, 
and  entered  the  town  in  such  sorry  condition  that 
the  loungers  shrieked  with  laughter.  Truly  he  was 
paying  heavily  for  his  dream. 

With  all  his  bad  fortune,  he  pushed  on  and  reached 
Venice  some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  1535.  Here 
he  resumed  his  theological  studies  and,  during  his 
spare  time,  preached  to  the  people.  Before  his  com¬ 
panions  rejoined  him,  the  “Exercises”  had  won  for 
him  three  more  recruits.  They  were  Diego  and  Esta- 
ban  d’Eguia,  and  Diego  Hozes. 

Here,  in  the  beginning  of  1537,  his  faithful  band 
came  to  him.  They  had  had  a  rough  time  of  it  in 
their  long  tramp  from  Paris.  They  were  forced  to 
pass  through  the  armies  of  France;  they  had  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  ecclesiastics ;  and  some  of  them  had 
fallen  sick.  But  all  this  was  part  of  the  service,  and 
it  was  with  undiminished  enthusiasm  that  they  rejoined 
their  Founder.  They  established  themselves  in  the 
hospitals  of  the  city  and  devoted  all  their  energies  to 
charitable  works,  attending  the  sick  and  instructing  the 
people. 

In  the  early  soring  all  but  Ignatius  set  out  for  Rome 
to  obtain  the  Pope’s  permission  to  go  to  the  Holy 
Land  and  remain  there  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Igna¬ 
tius  stayed  in  Venice  because  there  were  at  Rome 
certain  influential  persons  who  had  opposed  him  in 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


Paris,  and  be  feared  that  his  presence  with  the  party 
would  only  prejudice  the  cause  he  had  so  much  at 

heart. 

The  great  Paul  III  received  the  pilgrims  kindly  and 
made  no  difficulty  about  the  permission.  But  he  ex¬ 
pressed  his  doubts  about  the  possibility  of  a  voyage  to 
the  East.  He  was  much  impressed  with  their  learning 
and  humility;  and  he  gave  them  fifty  crowns  for  their 
pilgrimage.  They  also  received  permission  to  be 
ordained  by  any  Bishop,  and  their  vow  of  poverty  was 
officially  recognized. 

They  returned  to  Ignatius  and  their  chosen  labors. 
On  the  feast  of  Saint  John  Baptist,  Ignatius,  with 
six  of  his  companions,  received  Holy  Orders.  Our 
Saint,  however,  did  not  celebrate  Mass  until  Christmas 
Day,  1538,  eighteen  months  after  his  ordination.  His 
humility  and  his  consciousness  of  the  tremendous  dig¬ 
nity  conferred  by  the  Sacrament  prompted  this  ex¬ 
tended  delay. 

As  the  Turkish  War  made  their  pilgrimage  impos¬ 
sible  for  the  present,  they  decided  to  remain  at  Ven¬ 
ice  for  a  year,  in  the  hope  that  their  cherished  project 
might  be  realized.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  if  pro¬ 
hibitory  conditions  still  obtained,  they  would  take  it 
as  a  manifestation  of  God’s  will  and  offer  themselves 
to  the  Pope  for  what  services  they  could  render. 
Meanwhile,  they  gave  their  time  to  preaching;  though 
most  of  them  spoke  very  bad  Italian,  the  work  resulted 
in  many  conversions — and  the  inevitable  opposition  of 
alarmists.  The  Nuncio  at  Venice  examined  into  their 
credentials  and  manner  of  life,  but  found  nothing  de¬ 
serving  of  censure.  Again  Ignatius  insisted  on  and 
obtained  a  written  attestation  of  the  falsity  of  the 
charges. 

The  year  passed,  and  still  there  was  no  chance  of 


58 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


embarking  for  the  East.  Relinquishing  forever  the 
dear  hope  of  carrying  Christ’s  message  to  the  infidels 
and  of  leaving  his  bones  on  his  King’s  own  battle¬ 
field,  Ignatius  took  Laynez  and  Faber  as  companions 
and  started  for  Rome. 

A  few  miles  from  the  city  the  travellers  entered  a 
wayside  chapel  at  La  Storta  to  pray.  There  Ignatius 
knelt  and  threw  his  whole  soul  into  a  petition  for  the 
success  of  his  cause.  He  was  about  to  ask  for  the 
recognition  of  his  army,  and  the  outlook  was  hope¬ 
less  enough.  The  spread  of  various  forms  of  heresy 
had  put  the  authorities  of  the  Church  on  their  guard, 
and  strong  opposition  could  be  expected.  Though  our 
Saint’s  confidence  in  God  was  surely  as  firm  as  ever, 
he  must  have  been  greatly  troubled  in  mind  as  he 
neared  Rome.  But  there  at  La  Storta,  as  he  knelt  in 
prayer,  his  King  brought  him  comfort  and  assurance. 
Christ  appeared  to  him,  carrying  His  cross  and  saying, 
“I  will  be  favorable  to  you  at  Rome.” 

On  towards  Rome  he  went  with  unspeakable  joy  in 
his  heart.  Lie  did  not  know  just  what  the  vision 
meant.  But  it  drove  out  all  misgivings.  Perhaps — 
ah,  how  devoutly  he  wished  it  might  be — perhaps  it 
meant  martyrdom ! 

They  were  graciously  received  by  the  Pope,  and  soon 
after  their  arrival  Faber  and  Laynez  were  appointed 
public  lecturers  at  the  University  of  the  Sapienza, 
while  Ignatius  received  permission  to  give  the  Spir¬ 
itual  Exercise  in  public.  After  four  months  he  sent 
for  the  rest  of  his  companions  and  obtained  permis¬ 
sion  for  all  to  preach  and  hear  confessions  in  the 
city.  Here  the  old  difficulties  began.  They  were  ac¬ 
cused  of  heresy,  and  the  report  was  spread  that  they 
had  been  driven  out  of  Spain  and  France.  Official 
examinations,  however,  not  only  cleared  their  name. 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


59 


but  increased  their  reputation  for  sanctity  and  learn¬ 
ing. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  consider  the  various  trials 
and  triumphs  of  Ignatius  and  his  men  before  they  were 
duly  constituted  as  a  religious  Order  in  the  year  1540. 
Months  of  consideration  and  prayer  preceded  the  ap¬ 
plication.  But  they  saw  that  solid  union  and  formal 
recognition  were  necessary  for  the  permanence  of  their 
work.  Accordingly,  constitutions  were  drawn  up  and 
submitted  to  the  Pope.  “The  finger  of  God  is  here!” 
exclaimed  Paul  after  his  examination  of  the  docu¬ 
ment.  and  he  warmly  approved  of  the  Order.  At  first 
the  Cardinals  were  against  the  project.  But  Ignatius 
offered  prayers  and  Masses  for  the  success  of  his 
cause,  and  finally,  without  giving  any  reason  for  their 
change  of  front,  the  Cardinals  dropped  their  opposi¬ 
tion.  On  September  27,  1540,  the  Society  was  con¬ 
firmed  as  a  religious  order  by  the  Bull,  “ Regimini 
mil  it  antis  Ecclesiae 


XI 


Our  story  is  nearly  told.  Though  the  sixteen  years 
that  yet  remained  to  Ignatius  were  in  many  respects 
more  interesting  and  instructive  than  those  we  have 
seen,  the  history  of  them  is  not  to  our  purpose  in 
this  short  study.  With  the  establishment  of  the  Soci¬ 
ety  of  Jesus  his  dream  was  realized.  It  only  remains 
for  us  to  sketch  the  splendid  results. 

From  the  beginning  the  little  army  met  with  many 
difficulties ;  but,  by  the  favor  of  God  and  the  valor  of 
its  men,  it  triumphed  over  all  and  soon  became  con¬ 
spicuous  for  its  defense  of  the  Faith  and  its  efficiency 
in  the  winning  of  souls  to  Christ.  At  the  Council 
of  Trent,  Laynez  and  Salmeron,  as  theologians  of  the 
Pope,  excited  the  wonder  of  the  greatest  dignitaries 
of  the  Church  by  their  extraordinary  ability,  and  thus 
the  whole  Catholic  world  came  to  know  something  of 
the  Society.  In  an  incredibly  short  time  Ignatius  had 
placed  in  every  country  of  Europe  men  who  battled 
like  giants  with  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation. 
Francis  Xavier  swept  across  the  Indies  and  through 
distant  Japan,  leaving  behind  him  more  than  a  mil¬ 
lion  converts  to  Christ ;  and  he  died  on  the  desert 
island  of  San  Chian  within  sight  of  China,  the  for¬ 
bidden  land  which  he  had  determined  to  evangelize. 

Ignatius,  much  against  his  will,  had  been  chosen 
General  of  the  newly  founded  Order;  and  until  his 
death  in  1556  he  combined  in  that  office  the  prudence 
and  skill  of  a  trained  military  commander  with  the 
gentleness  of  a  loving  father.  The  soldierly  ideal, 
fused  in  the  dream  of  his  youth,  was  worked  into  the 
very  soul  of  the  Society.  Obedience  was  to  be  the 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


61 


shining  virtue  of  his  sons ;  not  the  servile  submission 
of  fear  or  policy,  but  the  ready  and  constant  will  to 
follow  the  least  word  of  the  superior  as  the  manifes¬ 
tation  of  the  will  of  God  Himself.  They  were  to  con¬ 
stitute  a  light-armed  brigade,  an  advance  guard  of 
the  army  of  Christ;  and  from  the  day  of  their  begin¬ 
ning  they  have  justified  their  trust  and  won  glory 
to  the  Soldier-Saint  who  organized  them  and  to  the 
Church  which  accepted  their  allegiance. 

Ignatius  prayed  that  trial  and  persecution  might  be 
the  lot  of  his  soldiers,  and  the  history  of  three  stormy 
centuries  shows  how  that  prayer  has  been  heard.  “The 
servant  is  not  greater  than  his  master,”  and  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  that  body-guard  of  Christ  have  been  privileged 
to  suffer  from  secret  intrigue  and  open  violence  in 
every  part  of  the  world  for  the  name  of  Jesus  which 
they  bear.  They  have  fought  steadily  on  until  to-day 
their  roll-call  numbers  over  sixteen  thousand  men,  who 
still  maintain  in  Christian  and  Pagan  lands  the  tra¬ 
ditions,  the  ideals,  and  the  lofty  spirit  of  the  brave 
Spanish  soldier  whose  device  they  bear  upon  their 
shield,  and  whose  one  single  aim  inspires  their  hearts 
of  fire:  “To  do  all  for  the  greater  glory  of  God.” 

The  life  of  every  saint  is  an  unusual  life,  and  per¬ 
haps  that  of  Ignatius  is  unusual  even  among  saints. 
Yet  how  many  points  of  contact  it  has  with  our  own. 
Few  men  in  all  history  were  called  to  such  a  mission 
as  his ;  yet  each  has  his  place  in  the  designs  of  God ; 
each  in  his  appointed  place  is  expected  to  do  what  lies 
in  him  for  his  own  salvation  and  the  glory  of  God; 
and  it  is  very  important  that  he  find  that  place  in  time. 
Few,  even  of  those  called  to  a  life  of  high  consecra¬ 
tion,  are  favored  in  the  beginning,  as  Ignatius  was, 
by  clear  manifestations  of  God’s  wish  concerning  them. 
Yet  we  must  remember  that  for  long  years  he  too 
was  left  in  the  dark  about  many  things.  And  this 


62 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


much  we  learn  from  his  conduct  through  those  years 
— that  an  honest  attitude,  prayer,  and  submission  to 
the  direction  of  God  or  His  representatives  will  lead 
one  aright. 

Whatever  be  our  destined  work,  it  probably  lies 
on  a  lower  level  than  his.  Great  sanctity  may  not  be 
expected  of  us.  Yet  happy  for  us  if  we  make  it  our 
ideal.  Happy  for  us  if  we  find  it  in  our  hearts  to 
repeat  the  sentiment  inspired  in  him  when  he  read 
of  saintly  lives :  “He  has  done  this,  why  not  I  ?” 
We  may  fall  far  short  of  his  sanctity ;  yet  sanctity 
in  some  degree  we  must  have,  not  visions  or  miracles 
— not  necessarily  a  life  consecrated  to  God — but  at 
least  that  degree  of  holiness  which  will  insure  us  His 
abiding  friendship.  No  man  can  ever  see  God  un¬ 
less  he  sanctifies  himself.  Each  one,  according  to  the 
measure  of  graces  given  him,  is  meant  to  take  a  share 
in  the  work  that  is  being  done  for  God,  whether  in 
the  cloister,  the  sanctuary,  or  the  world.  He  can  re¬ 
fuse,  and  perhaps  the  work  will  be  done  without  him ; 
but  even  so,  he  has  missed  a  glorious  chance,  and  he 
is  very  apt  to  find  life  a  burden  elsewhere. 

Those  too  who  have  found  their  place  in  the  world 
will  learn  from  the  life  of  Ignatius  to  drive  right  on 
to  the  goal  with  aggressive  confidence  and  strength  of 
purpose,  no  coward  fear  and  no  look  backward.  Like 
him,  they  may  experience  the  same  weariness  of  soul 
and  uncertainty  as  to  the  future ;  enemies  may  perse¬ 
cute,  and  well-meaning  but  worldly  friends  may  try 
to  discourage  them;  the  same  attraction  to  things  of 
earth  may  harass  them  through  their  days  and  nights, 
and  their  hearts  may  be  sick  with  the  sense  of  coming 
defeat.  May  the  thought  of  Ignatius  stimulate  them 
to  renewed  exertion. 

On  the  battle-fields  of  Spain  and  on  his  bed  of  suf- 


Dream  of  the  Soldier  Saint 


63 


fering  we  see  the  martial  virtues  that  made  him  loved 
of  God  ;  and  they  are  worth  considering  and  imitat¬ 
ing  in  this  age  which  fears  physical  pain  as  the  only 
evil.  In  the  cave  of  Manresa,  in  the  prison  cells  of 
Alcala  and  Salamanca,  in  the  varied  persecutions  of 
his  Paris  days  and  after,  we  have  an  example  of  heroic 
fortitude,  at  once  the  effect  of  divine  favors  and  the 
cause  of  further  ones;  and  if  we  can  only  catch  a 
little  of  the  spirit  that  animated  him,  it  will  happily 
be  a  whip  to  our  backs,  a  rebuke  to  our  tepidity  and 
sloth,  an  inspiration  to  take  up  our  cross  and  bear  it 
after  Jesus  with  thankfulness  and  joy- 


